Secrets Unknown
by tamilnadu09
Summary: "Sometimes, someone comes along and shows us who we really want to be. Who we should be." As Alex struggles with keeping her secrets, Amanda and Percy become increasingly suspicious. Set after 1x06-Michael/Alex centric. Slight Mikita & Thalex.
1. After Hours

**A/N: **So, Nikita is officially my new obsession ;)This will sort of follow the plot of the current season, so there might be potential spoilers along the way..don't read if you're not watching the season! Enjoy :)

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_Chapter 1: After Hours_

Alex sat in front of the computer screen, the dim light emitting from it seeming all the more brighter in the darkened room.

'YOU WERE LUCKY'.

'I KNOW,' Alex typed back, her fingertips barely brushing the keyboard. She was trying to decide how to word her next sentiments—about Michael—when she heard a door open behind her.

Hurriedly, she shut down the chat box and brought up an assignment the recruits had been working on that morning.

"Alex?"

She turned around to see Thom standing on the staircase behind her, looking puzzled.

And slightly suspicious.

"Hey," Alex smiled at him, "What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep," Thom's eyes flicked to the computer screen behind her. "What are you working on?"

"I'm just trying to figure out that code that Birkhoff was teaching us," Alex answered quickly, attempting to sound frustrated. "I can never get the hang of this computer stuff."

Thom stared at her suspiciously again.

"But I guess it's getting late," Alex continued, logging off the computer and slowly walking up the stairs to join him. "I should get to bed."

"I'll walk you," Thom offered, following her out the door. Alex shrugged, and they walked along in silence for a few moments before he suddenly spoke. "I saw the security tape."

Alex paused, frantically trying to think of something she had done wrong lately that would force Thom to talk to her about a security tape. But nothing came to mind. "What do you mean? What tape?"

"From…" Thom hesitated, "The other day. When you were being electrocuted."

Alex's mouth fell into a grim line and she quickly started walking forward again. "I'd rather not remember that day, if you don't mind."

"Hey," Thom grabbed her wrist, pulling her back. "I just wanted to say…you did good. I was proud of you…how you handled yourself. I don't know what I would have done."

Alex stared at him for a second before answering, "You would have done the same. It's what we're trained to do."

Thom nodded and looked down at the ground before meeting her gaze again. "I saw how you reacted when they 'shot' me, for lack of a better term."

"Thom..."

"Thank you. For caring."

"Of course I care," Alex replied, confused. By this time, they had reached her door and she opened it but stood in the doorway, not allowing him to pass. "Why would you be surprised?"

"I thought—" Thom began, but he broke off as they both heard footsteps approaching in their direction. Before Alex could say anything, a figure stepped around the corner.

Michael.

He stood several feet away from them, his eyebrow raised. "A little late for you recruits to be up, isn't it?"

"I was just leaving," Thom said immediately, glancing at Alex. "See you tomorrow."

He quickly walked away, leaving Alex and Michael staring at each other.

"What?" she snapped. "I wasn't doing anything wrong."

"I didn't say you were," he replied easily, his hands in his pockets as he strolled forward towards her.

"Whatever," she muttered under her breath and walked into her room, shutting the door behind her.

At least, she tried to.

A hand shot out, holding the door in place.

"May I come in?"

"You didn't ask for an invitation last time," Alex answered, not turning around to face him. She flicked on the lights and sat on her bed, looking up at him expectantly.

Michael's expression was impassive as he silently shut the door behind him. He didn't meet her gaze and spoke to the floor instead. "You need to be careful, Alex. Percy is watching you _very carefully_."

"I didn't do anything wrong," Alex repeated, scowling. "And seems to me that they're watching you pretty carefully, too."

Michael's gaze flicked up to meet hers, looking thoughtful. "Percy trusts me. Now that I've proved to him that—"

"That I'm not another 'Nikita'?" Alex shot back. "Whoever she is."

"Nikita is…" Michael trailed off, "Dead, supposedly."

"Supposedly?"

"Percy thinks she's dead," he clarified, now staring straight at Alex.

"But you don't believe that," Alex surmised.

Michael turned to leave, and opened the door. He stood with his back to her, but she heard him loud and clear. "I never know what to believe when it comes to Nikita…"

The door shut behind him.


	2. Love the Way You Lie

Alex poked her fork into her bowl of peas mindlessly, raising the fork to her mouth before placing it back on her plate without taking a bite.

'_I can't tell you something I don't know!'  
'At 50,000 your organs will start to suffer tissue damage, at 70 you **will** go into cardiac arrest...'  
__'STOP...**PLEASE**!' _

"Alex? Hey, _Alex!" _

Someone grabbed her shoulder roughly, and Alex shook herself out of her reverie, startled. She looked up at Thom, who was frowning down at her, clearly concerned. "What's with you? Are you okay?"

"It's nothing, I'm fine," Alex said quickly, picking up her fork again. Unbidden, scenes from that night flashed across her mind and she dropped her fork. It landed with a loud clatter on her plate.

Thom sat across from her, his eyes narrowed. "You can tell me...are you thinking about that night? I mean, it must have been traumatizing for you..."

"Just..." Alex took a deep breath, closing her eyes briefly. This was a mistake, as now she could clearly see Thom's dead body sprawled on the floor in front of her...the gun in her hand as she shot the _agent..._

_"_I mean, you thought you _killed _someone," Thom said in a low voice, glancing around to make sure they weren't being overheard.

"I have to go," Alex said abruptly, picking up her tray. Thom looked surprised, but she gave him a brief smile before quickly walking away. She deposited her tray and jogged up the stairs, intent on getting back to her room so she could finally _breathe._

_'You made me kill somebody!'  
'No! That was the agent's fault...you did what you had to do to survive!'  
_

Alex shook her head furiously. She just wanted to forget that night had ever happened. Was that too much to ask? She clenched her fists as she she hurriedly rushed towards her room, oblivious to her surroundings.

Then, she walked into something very solid.

"Whoa, you might want to watch where you're going," a voice said, sounding amused. Two strong hands grabbed her shoulders gently to steady her, and Alex looked up. Michael. Of course.

"Sorry," she muttered, attempting to go around him.

He didn't release his hold on her, "Are you alright? Did something happen to you?"

"Oh, you means besides you _people _setting me up and making me think that I killed someone?" Alex snapped, crossing her arms. She didn't want him to see that she was visibly shaking.

Michael opened his mouth to say something, but the sound of approaching footsteps distracted him. He let go of Alex's shoulders, seconds before Amanda appeared around the corner. Her expression didn't change as she neared them, her high heels echoing dismally against the floor.

"Oh, there are you are, Michael. Percy wishes to see you about the latest recruit assignment."

He didn't move, "Okay. I'll go see him."

Amanda waited, "I think he meant _now_."

Alex glanced between the two of them, surprised at Michael's change in demeanor. Before Amanda had appeared, he had been warm, concerned, caring...like a human being. But now that she was here, he sounded cold and indifferent. Like Division.

Michael still didn't leave, and Amanda turned to look at Alex, "Is there something wrong here?" She stepped closer, peering at Alex thoughtfully. "You look...flustered."

Something clicked in Alex's brain then. The way that Michael was speaking to Amanda...

"You knew," Alex breathed. It wasn't a question, but a fact. "You KNEW about the test!"

Amanda didn't blink, "Yes, I did."

"YOU PEOPLE ARE ALL SICK!" Alex screamed, reaching her breaking point. "I thought I was going to die in there! I thought they killed Thom! I thought—"

"GUARDS!" Amanda called.

"Wait a second," Michael started, but two men came seemingly out of the shadows, heading towards Alex menacingly.

She screamed again, and tried to run, subconsciously heading towards Michael. Her hand hit his chest for a brief second, and she saw the conflict in his eyes as he met her gaze.

_'What's going to happen to me when I go back?'  
'Look, we'll make this right, okay? I'm not going to let them do anything to you-'  
__'I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I'm not going to lose you too...'_

Then she was being dragged away.

"Don't worry, Alex," Amanda called down the hall, ignoring the girl's screams. "They're just taking you to my office. I believe it's time for one of our weekly sessions—"

"Is this really necessary?" Michael said in a low voice, staring after Alex. "She's a _recruit, _not a damn criminal!"

"Yes," Amanda turned to face him knowingly, "She's _just _a recruit. You would do well to remember that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he snapped.

Amanda began walking away, "I know you're in charge of the recruits, Michael. But that doesn't mean you know what's best for them. I'm only trying to help Alex get over what happened that night."

"I highly doubt what you're doing can be called _helping_."

"And what makes you think you know what's best for Alex?" She didn't wait for an answer, and disappeared around the corner.

Michael was left staring after her, an expression of growing contempt on his face.


	3. Nine Lives

"Drink up."

Alex stared pointedly at the teacup in front of her and crossed her arms, "I don't think so."

Amanda calmly took a sip of her own tea. "I'm just trying to help you, Alex."

"Oh yeah? What kind of drug did you lace my drink with this time?" Alex shot back.

Amanda regarded her silently over the brim of her teacup. "Not everything is a trick, Alex. That's not what Division is about."

"Could've fooled me."

"I know you're upset about the task that we made you do—"

"_Upset _doesn't even begin to cover it," Alex interrupted, her eyes blazing with anger.

"I suspect that you have some questions?" Amanda asked, placing her teacup calmly down on the table. "Well, go on then. You're free to ask me whatever you want."

"Why?" Alex blurted out, "Why me? Why Thom? Why _us?" _

Amanda looked thoughtful, "We have many recruits here, at Division. Every once in a while, someone special comes along."

"Special?"

"Someone who is talented, smart, beautiful..." She trailed off. "The way you tried to talk your way out of the situation you were in, positioning Division as a common enemy. We were all very impressed. And, of course, there's the fact that you lasted three rounds of electric shock. It was something we hadn't seen since the likes of Nikita."

Alex gritted her teeth.

Amanda noticed. "You must be wondering why everyone keeps comparing you to someone you've never met."

"It's just that...I feel like Nikita is this horrible person that has a death warrant hanging over her head, yet everyone keeps saying I'm just like her!"

"Nikita was one of a kind..." Amanda smiled, her cold eyes reminiscing over some distant memory. "She had nine lives...but even a panther can't outlive drowning in bullets."

Alex had absolutely no idea what that even supposed to mean, and she was left to ponder the extent of Amanda's insanity.

"You have the same qualities that Nikita had...you have a fire within you. Percy sees it, I see it." She paused, "And of course, Michael sees it."

"I'm not _her_," Alex insisted in a low voice.

Amanda smoothed down her skirt. "I have a story to tell you, Alex. Perhaps then you will understand."

Alex rolled her eyes.

"Imagine a family...just a mother and her daughter," Amanda began. "They're very close, and they do everything together. Even when the girl becomes a teenager, she's not embarrassed of her mother. They still go shopping together, they stay up late talking about boys..." Amanda paused, then continued. "Then, one day, it's time for the daughter to go off to college." She met Alex's gaze, "What do you think the mother does then?"

"What does this have to do with anything?"

"The mother now has a large void in her life," Amanda said, acting as though Alex hadn't spoken. "In order to fill it...she might get a cat. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"A cat," Alex repeated.

"And that cat would be best-treated cat you can imagine," Amanda finished, eyeing Alex carefully. "Essentially, the mother would have deflected her affections towards her daughter onto another...creature."

Alex scowled. Was she being compared to a cat?

"I still have no idea what—"

At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Before Amanda could say anything, the door flew open. Michael strode in, his gaze flicking between Alex and Amanda. "We're having a private session here, Michael," Amanda said calmly. "I thought you were with Percy?"

"I was. And now I'm here," Michael walked towards Alex, "I just wanted to make sure that...everything was alright."

"Well, as you can see, everything is perfectly fine," Amanda stood up. "In fact, I think we've made a breakthrough. Don't you think so, Alex?"

Alex opened her mouth to speak, but there was another hurried knock at the door. Amanda sighed in impatience, "What is it?"

Birkoff stuck his head in, his eyes wide with excitement. "You guys _have _to come with me! You'll never believe what's happening!"

"What is it?" Michael frowned, "Did something happen?"

Birkoff merely gestured for them to follow him, "Percy wants both of you to come."

Michael and Amanda immediately followed Birkoff out, with Alex trailing silently behind them. They reached the main security room, where Alex knew Birkoff's station was. The room was abuzz with excitement and activity, with Percy shouting into the phone. "I said, detonate the bomb _now_!"

Alex watched from the back as Birkoff scrambled into his seat, gaining control over the security cameras to..some museum?

"What's going on here?" Michael demanded, glancing over the security screens. "What's happened?"

"Our girl is back," Birkoff said excitedly.

"_Our _girl?"

"Nikita," Percy hissed.

Michael's head snapped up, "Nikita?" He suddenly looked back and met Alex's gaze for a split second before turning his attention back to the computer screens in front of him.

"Forget nine lives," Birkoff grinned, "More like nine thousand!"

"Detonate the bomb!" Percy shouted again.

Alex stepped forward in spite of herself, watching as Nikita wrestled Sarah, one of the recruits, to the ground next to a non-descript van.

And then, quite suddenly, the van blew up.

There was dead silence as they watched the recruit and Nikita disappear out of camera range.

"Unbelievable," Michael muttered, striding out of the room purposefully.

"Where are you going?" Birkoff called.

Michael didn't look back, "To get Nikita."

"Don't you mean Sarah?"

There was no answer.

Percy slammed his phone down on the table before exiting the room, not sparing Alex a second glance. Birkoff appeared to be in a good mood, and chortled to himself as he returned to his job.

Amanda turned around, and smiled when she saw Alex standing there. She brushed by Alex's shoulder, "On the other hand, who needs a cat when they've got the panther back?"

Alex didn't answer.


	4. Crack the Code

**A/N: **Just to address a few of your reviews, I know that there are a lot of people who see the Alex/Michael relationship on the show as more of a brother/sister thing. I'm keeping an open mind for now because I see the potential for something more between them, hence this story ;)

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'**Any news?**'

Alex quickly looked up to make sure that Birkoff was otherwise occupied before typing back, '**I heard Michael and Percy talking today. About you and Sarah.**'

'**Are they coming after her?**'

'**Michael told Percy that Sarah was dead**.'

Nikita didn't respond for several minutes, and Alex looked around the room impatiently. '**Are you still there?**'

'**I'm just surprised**,' Nikita finally wrote back. '**Because ****Michael saw that Sarah was alive**.'

Alex's eyebrows rose, and at that moment she heard Birkoff call her name. "You okay back there?"

"Yeah," Alex called back, quickly telling Nikita she had to go before logging out of the chat window and bringing up the assignment they were supposed to be working on.

Birkoff strolled towards her, and peered over her shoulder. "Did you crack that code yet?"

Alex gave him a tight smile, "I'm working on it."

"Several of the other recruits have already finished the task," Birkoff said pointedly.

"You know this computer stuff doesn't come easy to me," Alex complained.

"Birkoff!"

Alex jumped and all the recruits swiveled around in their seats to see Michael standing in the back of the room, his face set. "Get back here, now!"

"Would it hurt you to say _please _every once in a while?" Birkoff grumbled, still hovering behind Alex.

"_Now,_ Birkoff!" Michael said impatiently.

Alex watched curiously as Birkoff jogged up the stairs to meet Michael, and they bent their heads together to converse in low voices. Try as she might, she couldn't hear anything they were saying.

At that moment, Michael looked up and he met her gaze for a fraction of a second. Not wanting to be caught staring, Alex hurriedly turned back to her computer screen. Still slightly annoyed at Birkoff, Alex let her fingers fly over the keyboard as she easily completed the assignment.

A door slammed behind her, and she turned to see that Michael and Birkoff had both disappeared. Alex was about to open a chat window to tell Nikita that something had happened, when someone whispered in her ear, "Why are you pretending?"

Alex whirled around, her eyes wide. Thom was standing behind her, his arms crossed. "Way to sneak up on me," Alex snapped, taking a deep breath. "What are you talking about?"

"You're pretending," Thom repeated, his eyes accusing.

"Pretending to do what?"

"To be bad at this computer stuff!" Thom exclaimed. "I was watching you…as soon as Birkoff left, you cracked the code! Why pretend?"

"I…" Alex frowned, "You were watching me?"

The corner of Thom's mouth lifted in a half-grin, but he shook his head. "Don't try to change the subject."

Alex grinned back, "I wasn't." She shrugged nonchalantly, "You're the one who brought it up."

Thom rolled his eyes, "Forget I said anything."

"If you say so," Alex smirked, grinning when Thom halfheartedly brushed by her shoulder as he walked back to his computer.

It took her several moments to remember what she had been doing before she had been interrupted by Thom. She contemplated telling Nikita what she knew, before she realized that she didn't really _know _anything. Maybe she should find some information out first…

Glancing around the room to make sure she wasn't being watched, Alex quietly got out of her seat. She padded across the room and up the staircase, before pausing at the door. She looked back to look at Thom, and was relived to see that he was busy helping one of the other recruits.

She silently slid the door handle down, and slid through the smallest opening possible before shutting the door quietly behind her. She began walking towards the security room, hoping that she could sneak in somehow, when she heard footsteps coming.

_Damn. _

_"_Alex?" Michael's voice was incredulous as he rounded the corner and spotted her standing there. "What are you doing?"

"I was...looking for Birkoff," Alex invented. "I needed his help with this code we're supposed to be breaking."

"He's busy," Michael looked her over, his eyebrow raised. "Maybe you should get back to the other recruits."

Alex didn't move, "So...did you guys find Nikita?"

Some emotion flickered in Michael's eyes, but it was gone before she could identify it. "Nikita got away," he said dryly, "What else is new?"

"Um," Alex cast her eyes downwards, "What about that other recruit? She was my..."

"She's dead," Michael cut her off, his voice hard. "She got caught in the crossfire."

_'Michael saw that Sarah was alive,' _Nikita's voice rang in Alex's head, loud and clear.

"Oh. That's...too bad."

"You win some, you lose some," Michael said, his voice sarcastic.

"At least Nikita isn't dead," Alex said casually, "You must be relieved."

"Excuse me?"

"I mean," Alex quickly covered, "Now you can kill her yourself, instead of knowing that she died because of Percy."

Michael frowned at her.

"I should be getting back," Alex smiled at him innocently, and immediately hurried back down the hallway. After she had gone a good distance, she paused to listen. There were no footsteps, so obviously he hadn't followed her.

She crept forward until she reached the outside of the security room. She took a deep breath and silently opened the door.


	5. Moving On

**A/N: **A lot of you review anonymously so I can never write back to thank you! lol so here's a big THANK YOU to everyone who is reading/reviewing this story! I really appreciate it :)

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Alex stepped cautiously into the security room, relieved to see that everyone's attention was otherwise occupied. She let her eyes slide around the room, memorizing every single detail of the woman's face that currently spanned across every single screen. Alex squinted, trying to read the name underneath the photo. _Anna…something. _Percy was standing in the corner, his back to Alex. She narrowed her eyes, instantly suspicious. She strained her ears, attempting to hear what he was saying.

".._ordered the hit..." _

She immediately looked back at the photo to read the rest of the name, but before she could decipher Anna's last name, another face filled the screens. This time it was an older man that looked vaguely familiar, but one that she didn't really recognize. She looked to see the name below the picture, but it merely said: _U.S. Senator._

Alex hung back for a few moments, catching a few snippets of the conversation that Percy was having. When she had gathered a good amount of information, she quietly slipped out of the room so that she could relay what she had learned back to Nikita. As she walked past the glass panes, she glanced in to make sure Thom hadn't noticed her absence.

She paused with a frown when she couldn't see him in there. She bit her lip, slightly worried. He hadn't left to look for her, had he? She walked faster now, changing her course so she was walking towards Thom's room instead. As she neared, his door suddenly opened.

Alex immediately stepped backwards so that she was hidden behind the corner. She peered out, confused when she saw Michael walk out of Thom's room.

"_You're ready for this, Thom. I know you are."_

Alex inched forward, trying in vain to hear Thom's response. But she was too far away. She saw Michael nod and shut the door behind him. He then started down the hallway.

In her direction.

Alex's eyes widened and she whirled around, going back the way she had come so that she could get back into the computer room. Thankfully, she met no one on the way and she was easily able to slip back into her seat.

With a small smile of success, she opened up the chat box and began to fill Nikita in on the latest information.

* * *

It was much later when she finally headed back to her room, exhausted from training. She had noticed that Thom hadn't been at dinner, and he had skipped all the subsequent recruit activities. That wasn't like him, and Alex was growing increasingly suspicious about what Michael had been talking to him about earlier.

As she reached the hallway where her room was located, she slowed down, noticing a shadow outside her door.

Someone was waiting for her.

Cautiously, she walked forward, preparing herself for whoever would be there. Suddenly, the shadow shifted and a figure swung around the corner to meet her.

Alex gasped, startled by the sudden movement. "Michael?" she asked incredulously, staring at him in disbelief. "What are you doing?"

"Waiting for you," Michael didn't walk towards her, and leaned against her door, seeming perfectly at ease. "Where have you been?"

"Training," Alex snapped, "You know, something that _us _recruits have to do?"

Michael gave her a glimmer of a smile, but it was gone before she could blink. "Have you spoken to Thom recently?"

"No," Alex crossed her arms to ward off the sudden chill she felt at Michael's tone. "Why? Is something wrong with him?"

"No," Michael answered slowly, some emotion in his eyes now. Alex tried to identify it..._sympathy? _"Thom will be alright. I just wanted to...warn you."

Alex kept silent, tightening her arms around herself.

"I know that Thom is...close to all you recruits," Michael said finally. "You all look up to him as a leader...a friend."

"So?" Alex frowned, "Are we not supposed to make friends in Division now or something?"

"You really don't have a high opinion of us, do you?"

"It's not like any of us chose to be here," Alex shot back.

"Division is your second chance," Michael intoned, sounding like he was reciting the words from heart.

"Don't say that. It makes you sound like one of them," Alex said disdainfully, her voice hard.

Michael walked towards her at that, now looking angry. He stopped when he was an inch away from her and grabbed her shoulders roughly, his voice low, "I _am _one ofthem, Alex! I _am _Division."

Alex didn't flinch, even when he shook her. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Michael let go of her, a muscle twitching in his jaw. He took a deep breath, apparently trying to control his temper. "I wanted to warn you that Thom is moving on," he said abruptly. "He has graduated to field agent."

Alex blinked, "What?"

"He'll be completing missions from now on. I just wanted to let you know."

She didn't let her face register any emotion, "Why?"

Michael shrugged and began walking away. He paused at the end of the corridor, his gaze intensely on Alex. "I know how easy it is to get...attached." With that, he disappeared around the corner.

Alex clenched her jaw, and stormed through her door, slamming it shut behind her. She leaned against it, her eyes closed. She felt a twinge in her heart. No wonder no one around here bothered making friends. What was the point? At some point, everyone would leave. Disappear.

There was a knock at the door.

"WHAT?" Alex shouted.

"Alex?" Thom's voice called uncertainly through the door. "It's me..."

She took a deep breath, and swung open the door. "Sorry," she muttered when she saw his confused expression. "I'm just having a bad day."

"I wanted to tell you," Thom began, "I made field agent."

Alex smiled tightly, "Congratulations."

Thom looked angry for a second, "Could you maybe sound more sincere?"

Alex shrugged, not bothered by his tone. "What's the point of pretending?"

She shut the door in his face.


	6. Evaluations

**A/N: **so, like I said at the beginning, I'll mostly try to follow the plot of the show but I'll add in a few of my own ideas along the way. this chapter is one of them ;)

* * *

'**I got the pill. Thank you.**'

'**It was the least I could do**,' Alex typed back, casting a wary glance around the computer room. It was late, and she was fairly certain no one would pop in, but it never hurt to be too cautious.

'**I hope your friend is alright**,' Nikita wrote, and Alex could almost see her smirk. '**I think I might've bruised his ego a bit.**'

Alex grinned, imagining a Thom/Nikita face off. She knew Thom was good at what he did. She also knew that Nikita was better.

'**Thom is fine. I don't really see him anymore though**.'

'**Just because he's a field agent now doesn't mean that he's not still your friend**.'

'**That's exactly what it means**,' Alex wrote back, a sense of bitterness in the back of her mind. She didn't know what was wrong with her. Shouldn't she be happy for Thom? It wasn't like he had taken anything away from her…_she _wasn't here to become a field agent. She was merely here to get revenge on Division. So, technically, she had no reason to _care _that Thom was no longer a recruit.

'**Trust me, he won't become one of them, Alex. He's got too much heart. I could see it in his face**.'

Alex smiled slightly at that, knowing that Nikita was good at reading people.

'Don't give up on the people you care about at Division, Alex. Your friends _are _your humanity.'

Briefly, Alex wondered whether Nikita had anyone left at Division that she still cared about. Michael's face flashed in her mind's eye.

'**Thanks, Nikita**.'

'**No problem**.'

* * *

"So, today is evaluation day," Michael announced, his arms crossed behind his back as he strolled back and forth in front of the recruits. "Does anyone know what that means?"

The recruits all shifted uneasily, but no one answered the question. Alex stood in the back, her arms crossed. She purposefully avoiding looking anyone in the eye, though she could feel Jaden staring at her from the other side of the group.

Without Thom, they both felt like outsiders.

_It's strange_, Alex acknowledged. All the recruits gathered here _without _Thom...it felt very strange.

"You're going to test us?" Jaden suddenly volunteered, and Alex looked up to see Jaden's determined face. _That girl had something to prove..._

_"_Well, yes, in a manner of speaking," Michael answered evasively. He turned his back to the group and gestured to someone that must have been standing behind the tinted glass panel. Within seconds, the door behind the staircase opened and a figure walked out.

Amanda.

Alex felt a strong sense of dismay as Amanda slowly walked down the stairs to join them, her high heels echoing in the suddenly silent room. She walked towards Michael purposefully, "Have you debriefed them yet?"

He shook his head, "I thought you might want to explain it."

Amanda nodded and turned to look at the recruits, a smile on her face. If that was her attempt to look friendly, it failed miserably. Amanda's reputation was well known amongst even the lowest ranking in Division.

"Every year, the recruits have to go through a series of tests," Amanda began. "We know how much your bodies can handle. That's what all the training is for. But, what we don't know, is how much your _minds _can handle."

Alex swallowed, her gaze flicking to Michael. She wasn't surprised to see his attention was wholly focused on Amanda, but as though he felt her eyes on him, he swiftly glanced at her. If she was hoping for some reassurance, she was disappointed. His face remained expressionless, and entirely serious. He kept his gaze on her for a long moment before looking away. Alex's mind felt foggy, and it was with great effort that she focused on what Amanda was saying.

"...a series of psychological tests. They're meant to test your endurance and willpower. In order to graduate, you can't just be fast, or smart. You need to have strength _in _your mind." She paused, looking around the group assembled before her. "Any questions?"

Jaden raised her hand, "Who's going to be administering the tests? Michael?"

Amanda raised her eyebrow, "No. I am."

More silence greeted her words.

"Well, if that's all," Amanda smiled again, a certain excitement in her eyes. "The evaluations start tomorrow. I suggest you spend the rest of the day preparing yourselves."

With that, she left.

The minute the door shut behind her, everyone turned to look at Michael, as though hoping for some clue as to what was coming. Michael squared his shoulders, "What Amanda told you is correct. This evaluation process is routine, and nearly every recruit has gone through it at one point or another." He paused for a second, appearing to contemplate his next words carefully. "I'll be watching the tests from the security feeds upstairs," he said finally, and his gaze flicked to Alex. "But I can _not _interfere. This is Amanda's test to run, and she alone is in charge of it."

The recruits glanced at one another with a considerable amount of foreboding.

"You may spend the rest of the day doing whatever you think will help you in tomorrow's evaluations," Michael nodded at them once, and then he was gone.

* * *

Alex lay face-down on her bed. She hated that she felt nervous. She hated that some _woman—_Amanda_—_was getting the best of her.

She hated that she didn't know what to expect. Nikita had never mentioned anything of this sort to her, which made Alex suspicious. Were the evaluations really as "routine" as Michael and Amanda were making them out to be?

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Before Alex could get up to answer it, the door opened. Alex groaned into her pillow in annoyance before flipping around to see who it was.

"Ever heard of knocking?"

"I did knock," Michael pointed out, the corner of his mouth turning up in a slight grin.

Alex rolled her eyes, and slowly adjusted herself so she was sitting on her bed instead of lying down. "Can I help you with something?"

Michael glanced into the hallway before shutting door behind him discreetly. "About tomorrow's evaluations—"

"Let me guess, Amanda is going to be extra hard on me, right?"

Michael didn't answer.

"I don't understand!" Alex exclaimed, "Why does she hate me so much!"

"It's nothing personal," Michael moved towards her, but stopped a few feet away. "You just remind her of...Nikita."

"I'm guessing her and Nikita didn't part on good terms, then?" Alex asked wryly.

"No one at Division has any sympathy for Nikita," Michael said instantly, but a small smile played at his lips. "But she was definitely one of a kind."

"What—"

"She passed Amanda's evaluations with flying colors," Michael interrupted, raising an eyebrow. "Let's see if you can do the same."

Alex didn't trust herself to speak, so she merely nodded.

Michael looked at her once more before moving to the door. He opened it slowly, and stood in the doorway for a moment. "Make me proud, Alex."

The door clicked shut behind him.

* * *

***so, what crazy things do you think Amanda is going to make them do? =P **


	7. Against All Odds

Alex stepped out of the elevator, her eyes blinking rapidly as she absorbed the unfamiliar surroundings.

"This way," the guard motioned to her, "Keep walking."

She began walking slowly down the hallway, the harsh fluorescent lights glaring down at them. "Um, aren't the evaluations supposed to be held in Amanda's office?"

"Through here," the guard pointed, hanging back. "You'll find her through the double doors."

Alex frowned, and carefully pushed open the doors. She stopped on the threshold, trying not to look too surprised at the laboratory setting.

"Hello, Alex," a smooth voice greeted her. Alex whirled around, but couldn't find Amanda anywhere. "Just relax," the voice continued, "I find most recruits have an easier time of it once they relax."

"Where are you?" Alex demanded, looking up at the ceiling and around the room to see if she could spot any two-way mirrors, or decoy windows.

"I'll be monitoring your progress from where I am," Amanda cut in, "So, rest assured that you are not alone."

"Progress of what?" Alex asked, her voice raising in pitch against her will. "What are you going to do to me?"

"There's no need to worry, Alex. You aren't the first recruit to go through these tests, and you're certainly not the last," Amanda replied, sounding slightly amused. "Now, for your first test, I'd like you to take a seat in front of the large computer screen in the far-right corner of the room you are standing in."

Alex found the computer almost immediately (it was rather large), and sat down on the cushiony chair in front of it. "Am I supposed to turn it on?"

"We control the computer from here," Amanda answered. As she spoke, the lights in the room dimmed. "Now, I want you to attach the electrodes connected to the chair to yourself. A figure will appear on your computer screen that will show you the proper placement."

Alex suddenly noticed the thin wires hanging off the edges of her chair, and she picked one up with some deliberation. At the same time, the computer screen in front of her became a blinding white and a stick figure appeared on it. Red arrows pointed to various points on the stick figure's body, and Alex slowly placed all the electrodes in the corresponding places on herself.

When she was done, there were two electrodes on either side of her head, one on the pulse point on her neck, one on her chest, and two on her wrists. "Very good, Alex," Amanda approved. "I see you've completed the first step." Alex hated the feeling that she was being watched over some security camera, and she looked around to see where it was. "Pay attention to your task," Amanda's voice ordered sharply, and Alex scowled as she swung her gaze back to the computer screen.

"What do I do now?"

"You will be shown a series of images, and I will measure your response to them. I only ask that you try to keep your eyes open. Ready?"

"What kind of images?" Alex asked suspiciously, feeling her heart start to pound uncomfortably.

"No need to be nervous, Alex," Amanda said coolly. "The images will appear in rapid succession. It is highly unlikely that you will be able to identify any single one. This test is more of a way to measure your...subliminal response."

That did nothing to help her feel better, but Alex didn't have a choice. "Okay, I'm ready."

"3...2...1."

The screen in front of her went black, and Alex mentally prepared herself for what was coming next. The room suddenly darkened completely, with the only light coming from the computer. Although she tried to be ready for it, she still gasped when a burst of images flashed before her eyes.

Amanda had been right_; _there was no way that Alex could identify a single image_—_they were too fast. Alex's eyes were burning, but she tried to keep them open. After a few minutes, the pace at which the images were being fired out at her seemed to slow down considerably. She was able to identify a picture of a young girl, a garden, a river, a woman's silhouette against a sunset, a single red rose...the image zoomed in on the rose, till the vast redness filled the screen.

At which point, it turned into blood.

Alex gritted her teeth, forcing herself not to think of _that day_ when she thought Thom had been dead. The blood's redness seem to dim, and become an almost-orange color. Alex stared at the image, strangely mesmerized until she realized what she was looking at.

Fire.

"No," Alex whispered, her hands fisting against the chair. _Clear your mind_, Nikita's voice rang in her ear. _Don't let them get past your defenses..._

The fire grew brighter, until it was all-consuming on the screen. Alex forced herself to breathe. _Think of something else, anything else_, she commanded herself. Michael's face appeared in her mind's eye, the faint echo of his voice resounding in the back of her head. '_Make me proud, Alex...'_

As she focused on his voice, she suddenly realized that the fire disappeared. The screen went black once more, and lights in the room flickered back to life.

"Nicely done, Alex," Amanda's voice announced, "You've passed the first test."

"I'm so glad."

"No need for the sarcasm."

Alex didn't reply, and ripped the electrodes off her skin with a vengeance. The door to the room clicked open, and two men in lab coats walked in. They were closely followed by Amanda herself. Alex eyed them all apprehensively. "What_—hey, _let go of me!" Alex protested, as the two men grabbed her arms and pulled her unceremoniously towards the white bed in the middle of the lab.

"Your second test is a simulation of sorts," Amanda said, watching as the two men strapped Alex into the bed. She pressed a button on the wall, and a small machine lowered from the ceiling until it hovered above Alex.

"What is this?" Alex shouted.

"You will look through the eye pieces on the simulator," Amanda said calmly. "We have prepared a special simulation task for every recruit to complete. Let me warn you, these _dream-sequences _will feel very real. I need you to remember that _you're _the one in control. Can you do that?"

"Do I have a choice?"

Amanda smiled, and signaled the simulation to start.

* * *

"Man, slow day, huh?" Birkoff commented, taking a swig of his Red Bull.

"We watch the recruits every year," Michael said tiredly, his brow furrowed as watched Alex and Amanda.

"Yeah, but there's usually something exciting _happening_. You know...screams, running, trying to escape_—" _

_"_I must say, the recruits are doing extraordinarily well this year, wouldn't you say?" Percy's voice came from behind them.

Birkoff immediately sat up straighter, his eyes widening at Michael for a second, clearly asking '_what is he doing here?'_

_"_Sir," Michael greeted, eyeing Percy suspiciously. "You've never watched the evaluations before."

Percy shrugged, taking a seat next to Birkoff. "Like the genius said, it's been a slow day." He paused and glanced at Michael, "Nikita's been off the radar for a few days."

"She sure keeps things interesting," Birkoff murmured under his breath, earning a glare from Michael.

Percy nodded at the screen, "How's Nikita 2.0 doing?"

"Her name," Michael said through gritted teeth, "is Alex." He glanced back at the screen, "And she's doing fine."

"She passed the subliminal test," Birkoff elaborated. He clicked a few buttons, "And she's about to start the simulation."

"Oh good," Percy smiled coldly, "I got here in time for the best part."

"The best part? But we don't even get to see the simulation," Birkoff complained, "What's the fun in that?"

"Actually," Percy reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper, "I designed Alex's simulation myself." He handed the paper to Birkoff, "We should be able to see what she's seeing once you enter this code in."

Birkoff glanced at Michael briefly before entering the code into the simulator program. Michael turned to look at Percy incredulously, "Since when do you actually...contribute to the evaluation procedures? I thought Amanda was very strict on her policies_—"_

_"_Amanda made a small exception for this particular recruit," Percy said dismissively. "After all, Alex is special, is she not?"

Michael narrowed his eyes, "What exactly did you program into her simulation?"

Percy's eye glinted as he leaned back, "We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"

* * *

***next chapter is Alex's simulation...any guesses what Percy might have programmed into her "dream?" I can tell you that Michael will play a big role in it :) thanks for reading & reviewing! **


	8. Defining Reality

**A/N: **remember, this chapter is Alex's simulation (her "dream sequence") set up by Percy... he's evil, isn't he? =P

* * *

Chapter 8: Defining Reality

Alex ran, her heart thundering in her chest. She looked behind her wildly, the darkness of the corridor overwhelming her senses. She could hear heavy footsteps not too far behind—she hadn't lost them yet. She turned her attention back to the path in front of her and groaned in dismay.

Dead end.

Staggering slightly, she whirled back around in the direction she had come from and veered right into an adjoining hallway. That was one good thing about Division—its twists and turns were never ending. Breathing hard, she glimpsed a doorway at the end of the hallway. Risking a quick look behind her, she was relieved that no one had caught up with her. She grasped the door handle and was surprised to find it wasn't locked.

_It should be locked, Alex dimly tried to warn her subconscious. Everything in Division is always locked..._

Alex opened the door and hurriedly shut it behind her. She raked her fingers through her hair, finding a small hair clip embedded behind her ear. She knelt down and shoved the hair pin into the lock—if it was jammed, then no one could get in.

_Who was she hiding from? Alex couldn't remember...why was she running? _

Satisfied with her work, Alex finally turned to examine the room she was standing in. It was large, with three completely white walls. The fourth wall, on the other hand, was entirely made out of some kind of glass. Alex narrowed her eyes, and slowly walked towards it. It wasn't a mirror—her reflection was too distorted for that.

As she neared it, her reflection became more clear. She stopped suddenly, her mouth dropping open. She wasn't looking at _her _reflection.

Nikita.

_Alex's mind flickered. They don't know you know her, she thought to herself firmly. Don't react. _

"Hello, Alex," Nikita said solemnly.

"Who—who are you? What do you want?" Alex stammered, trying to make sense of what was going on.

"Don't be afraid," Nikita answered reassuringly, "I'm a friend."

"I don't have any friends," Alex crossed her arms. She scowled when Nikita mimicked the movement.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that," Nikita teased. "I had a friend at Division, after all...I'm sure you do, too."

A shadow moved within the glass, several feet behind Nikita. Alex frowned, and stepped closer so she could see who it was—but the figure remained blurred. "Who is that?"

Nikita glanced behind her, a smile forming on her face. "Don't worry, Alex. We'll protect you."

Alex automatically looked behind her, expecting to see someone there. But there was nothing. "Protect me from what?"

"When you try to escape," Nikita whispered, "We'll let you go."

_It's a test...Division runs tests, every day, every hour._

"I don't want to escape," Alex said loudly, "I have nowhere to go."

Nikita only smiled again. As Alex watched, the figure behind Nikita stepped closer. The blurred lines became sharper, the face becoming focused.

_Michael. She should have known. _

_"_What're you doing in there?" Alex demanded, her eyes widening as Michael positioned himself next to Nikita.

"You always have somewhere to go," Nikita whispered, her hand entwining with Michael's. She turned to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Alex took a step backwards, feeling like she couldn't breathe. Nikita pulled Michael to her, tilting her head back as their lips joined in a heated kiss.

Alex stumbled backwards, and suddenly heard the door handle behind her turn. She whirled around, jumping out of the way as the door flew open with a crash. Two large guards stormed in, armed with machine guns.

That were aimed at Alex.

She screamed, trying to run. Her hand hit the glass wall behind her, but Michael and Nikita had both disappeared.

"This is where it ends," Amanda announced, and Alex turned back around in shock to see the woman strolling casually into the room. "You should have escaped with Nikita when you had the chance."

"Why would I do that?" Alex shouted desperately. "I don't even know her!"

"But she was with Michael," Amanda pointed out, a cold smile on her lips. "Don't you trust Michael?"

Alex paused, her mind frantically trying to keep up with what was happening.

_Your loyalty to Michael. Your loyalty to Division. Two different things, Alex reminded herself. Very different._

"Michael _is_ Division," Alex said slowly, giving them the answer they wanted. "I have to trust him. I have no other choice."

Amanda looked pleasantly surprised, "Well, well. Maybe we had you figured out all wrong, Alex."

"Maybe you did."

Amanda gestured to the guards, "Let's go." And just like that, they all vanished into thin air.

Alex blinked, finding herself standing alone in the room once more. She glanced towards the glass, half-expecting to see Nikita there again—but it was empty.

She took a few halting steps towards the door, relieved when no one stopped her. Taking a deep breath, she ran faster than she had ever run before. The walls streaked by her, mere blurs. Then she rounded a corner, and ran full speed into someone, knocking them both over.

She cried out as she fell, recognizing Michael's face at the last second. He took the full force of the blow as she fell on top of him, her eyes widening as his hands caught her waist to steady her. "Alex?" his voice was incredulous, "Where's the fire?"

"I was—" Alex broke off, realizing they were both still on the ground. She scrambled up, ignoring Michael's amused smirk as she held a hand out to him. "Sorry. I didn't mean to knock you over."

He grasped her hand as he stood up, holding on to her for a moment too long. Alex stared down at their entwined hands. "I just saw you," she muttered, confused. "You were with Nikita."

Michael frowned, "Nikita is gone, Alex. What are you talking about? Why were you running?"

Alex twisted her hand out of his grip, and looked behind her nervously. "They were chasing me," she whispered, "Amanda..."

"Hey, look at me," Michael commanded, his voice low. "You don't have to run anymore. I'll protect you, Alex. Always have, always will."

Alex met his gaze directly for the first time, and the words formed before she could stop them, "I know."

"Do you trust me?" Michael stepped closer, his hands resting on her shoulders.

"Yes," Alex swallowed, feeling like she was backed into a corner.

_Alex's mind became more alert, focusing on what was happening. _

"What about me?" Nikita's voice came from behind Alex, "Do you trust me?"

* * *

"What is the point of including Nikita in this little game of yours?" Michael snapped, his nerves on edge. "Alex doesn't even know her!"

"Patience, Michael," Percy spoke, his eyes never leaving the screen. "You know we have to test the loyalty of our recruits. What better way to do that than tempting them with the recruit gone rogue?"

Michael barely hid his scowl, watching as Alex was put in the middle of himself and Nikita. "Come on," he murmured, almost to himself. "Make the right choice..."

"Do you trust me?" Nikita's voice asked again, as she stepped closer to Alex. They all watched with bated breath as Alex took a corresponding step backwards, moving towards Michael.

"No," Alex suddenly said, "I don't."

"Why not?" Nikita's eyes glinted, "Without me, who _can _you trust?"

Alex turned to look at Michael, their faces startlingly close.

Birkoff gaped, leaning forward in his chair. Percy stiffened, and Michael's eyes narrowed as he watched Alex reach towards him on the screen, their lips millimeters apart.

Then, quite suddenly, the screen went black.

And Alex woke up.


	9. Final Destination

Chapter 9: Final Destination

Alex blinked several times, trying to clear the blurriness from her vision. She stared up at the ceiling in confusion, momentarily forgetting where she was. Feeling slightly panicky, she tried to sit up—but almost immediately clutched a hand to her head as a wave of nausea hit her.

"Easy there," a cool voice said, and someone placed a hand on her shoulder gently, "Don't get up too fast."

Alex sat up slowly, the pounding in her head increasing with every movement she made. She blinked again, and focused on Amanda's face. "What's going on?" she croaked, her head reeling.

"You've just completed the simulation exercise," Amanda informed her, "How do you feel?"

"Awful."

"Well, that's to be expected," Amanda replied briskly, consulting a clipboard. "The side effects of the simulation range from a mild headache to...well, more serious things."

"Side effects? You never said—"

"During the exercise," Amanda cut in, "Your mind is forced to enter a dream state. Pulling the mind back into reality can be disorientating. For anybody."

"How long will these effects last?" Alex winced as she massaged her stiff neck, "Will it affect my training?"

"You should be fine in a few hours," Amanda smiled at her briefly. "There is one more evaluation, but we won't run that until tonight. For now, why don't I get one of the guards to escort you back to your room?" Without waiting for an answer, Amanda walked over to the double doors and slid a keycard out of her pocket. Within a second, the doors opened smoothly to let her out. She stepped into the hallway, and the doors closed behind her with a muted beep.

Alex screwed her eyes closed as she tried to hear what Amanda was saying to the guards, but all that reached her was a low murmur. Then, quite suddenly, there was a loud _thud_ and the sound of raised voices. Frowning, Alex opened her eyes, just in time to see Michael stalking in through the doors.

"What—"

"You have no authority to be here, Michael!" Amanda walked in quickly behind him, but kept her voice controlled. "You know that these are _my _evaluations."

"And you know that these are _my _recruits," Michael retorted, injecting the right amount of venom in his voice. "Alex is done here. I'm taking her back to her room. Now."

Amanda met his gaze with hooded eyes, "I was going to send her back up with one of my guards."

"Not necessary," he said shortly, and grabbed Alex's arm roughly, "Let's go." Alex stumbled as he pulled her off the bed, not daring to look up at Amanda.

She tried to regain her balance once they had reached the hallway, but only stumbled again as Michael dragged her along. They came to a sudden halt, and Michael let go of her arm. Surprised by the loss of support, Alex fell sideways. "Whoa, steady," Michael grabbed her wrist. "Are you okay?"

Alex shook her head, and leaned back against the wall next to the elevator. "That was...intense," she said finally, taking in deep breaths. "It felt so real..."

"I know."

Something in Michael's tone made Alex look up sharply. "What do you mean _you know_?" she demanded, "There's no way you could have—"

"Percy designed your simulation," Michael interrupted, his voice low as he glanced upwards. Alex followed his line of sight to a security camera above them. "He had some code that could use the security feeds to hack into your exercise."

Alex swallowed, "So...Percy _saw—"_

"And Birkoff," Michael met her gaze, "And myself."

"Oh," she said faintly as the elevator doors opened. She shuffled in behind him, feeling uncomfortable. "Um, so you saw everything that happened?" _Or didn't happen, _she added silently.

Michael nodded, his hands in his pockets. "Percy wanted to test your loyalty to Division, hence adding Nikita to your simulation." He paused, and Alex looked up. "You handled yourself well back there," he acknowledged. And then he gave her a brief grin, "I knew you could do it."

Alex smiled back, relieved that things weren't awkward between them. At that moment, the elevator doors _binged!_ open and Alex winced as the sound triggered another wave of nausea. She staggered out of the elevator blindly, and felt someone catch her, "Alex! Are you okay?"

She looked up and saw Thom staring at her in concern. He kept his arms around her as he helped her regain her footing. "I heard you just had your evaluations...how are you feeling?"

"Like I was just attacked," Alex muttered, but she gave Thom a grateful smile, "Thanks." She turned around to see Michael standing a few feet behind her, his eyes narrowed as he looked between her and Thom.

"I was just taking her back to her room," Michael said belligerently. "How did you find out about the evaluations?"

"Oh, I can take her back," Thom offered, avoiding the question. "I'm sure you have other important things to do."

Michael opened his mouth to argue, but suddenly the elevator doors opened again and someone walked out.

Percy.

Alex openly glared at him, but he either didn't notice or chose not to care. "Ah, Michael, there you are," Percy said briskly. "I have some matters to discuss with you. Shall we go into my office?"

"Of course, sir. I'll just make sure that Alex is alright and then I'll meet you in your office," Michael replied, starting to brush by Percy—who grabbed his shoulder to stop him.

"Let the new agent take care of her," Percy ordered, and he leaned closer to Michael. "The information I have to discuss with you is of a _time-sensitive_ nature," he said pointedly.

Michael frowned, "What is it?" Alex's interest was sufficiently piqued, and she narrowed her eyes at Percy.

"Our friend _Kasim _has just made an appearance in Yemen," Percy muttered, and Michael's head snapped up.

"You're sure? Kasim?"

"Positive," Percy handed him a folder. "Everything you need to know is in here. I've already booked your flight. I know how much this means to you."

"Thank you, sir." Michael glanced back at Alex just before walking away. He looked conflicted, and he looked back down at the folder in his hands. "Make sure she gets to her room, Thom," he nodded at them and then quickly disappeared around the corner with Percy.

* * *

Alex tried to smile as Thom tucked her into bed. He fluffed her pillows and then pulled the covers tightly around her, looking like he was deep in thought. "Hey," Alex touched his arm softly, "I'll be okay."

Thom took a deep breath and sat down on the edge of her bed. "I know," he admitted, "But I also know what Amanda's evaluations are like. Especially her simulation mind control thing...it's a lot to handle."

"I'll be okay," Alex repeated. She shifted on her bed, "Do you know what Percy and Michael were talking about back there?"

Thom shrugged, "I know it's a top secret mission. Michael is the only one going."

Alex frowned, "He's the only one? Isn't that...dangerous?"

"I'm sure he can handle himself. He's been doing this for a long time, after all," Thom said reassuringly, not sounding worried at all. "So, anyway, is there anything else I can get you?"

"You've done plenty. Really. I appreciate it."

Thom nodded and stood up, "Well, I'll let you rest. Let me know if you need anything else."

"It's good to know you haven't changed," Alex blurted out, and Thom turned to look at her. "I thought that once you became a field agent..." She trailed off as he walked quickly back to her. He paused and knelt down, brushing a kiss over her forehead.

"I won't change, Alex," he whispered. "The way I feel about you, our friendship...it won't change. I promise." Before she could respond, he hurried away, closing the door behind him.

* * *

"You wanted to see me?" Amanda asked, walking into Percy's office without knocking.

"Have a seat."

Amanda raised an eyebrow, but sat across from him nonetheless. She crossed her legs, and then folded her hands in her lap. "What seems to be the problem?"

Percy cut straight to the chase, "What news do you have on Alex's evaluations?"

"We monitored her heart rate during the subliminal test," Amanda began. "It spiked slightly during the images of the fire and blood, but she was able to control her response to the stimulus surprisingly well."

"Did you include the other images I requested?"

"I added in pictures of all the recruits, as well as Michael and Thom, like you asked. She didn't have a response to any of them...except for one."

"Oh?" Percy looked interested, "Which one?"

"I included a picture of that recruit Sarah. You remember, the one that was involved in the environmental issue a few weeks back?"

"Michael said she died."

"Yes. Well, I included a picture of her near the beginning of the test...and Alex's heart rate increased dramatically for that split second."

"That's odd. What do you make of it?"

"I presume she's hiding something. Maybe harboring a secret about Sarah...I'll have to find out somehow."

Percy nodded, "And? What did you think of the simulation?"

Amanda appeared thoughtful, "It was certainly interesting. What did Michael think?"

"He wasn't very happy about it. But that was to be expected."

Amanda regarded him curiously, "Kasim picked a convenient time to come out of the shadows, I see."

"Convenient for us, yes...Michael will be on the other side of the world by tonight."

Amanda stood up, "And I trust you'll give Thom something to do tonight as well?"

"I'm sure there's a mission we can send him on," Percy agreed. "Is everything set for Alex's final evaluation?"

"It will be," Amanda smiled, her eyes glinting. "And this time there'll be no one around to save her."

* * *

***amanda + percy = EXTRA evil. haha what do you think they have in store for Alex? ;) **


	10. The Enemy of My Enemy

**A/N: **thank you SO MUCH to everyone who's reading & reviewing this story! it means a lot to me :)

* * *

Nikita curled her legs beneath her on the armchair as she studied the folder in front of her. Kasim was a lot smarter than anyone in the government had given him credit for. She couldn't let him outsmart them now; the stakes were too high. This was her one chance to show Michael that he didn't need Division anymore. He was _so close _to being free from Percy's clutches.

If only he trusted her.

"What are you really doing here?"

"Same story I told you before, Michael," Nikita answered, not looking up from the folder. She could feel his eyes shooting daggers at her from across from the hotel room.

Nikita felt the air in the room shift as he got up and strode purposefully in her direction. The next thing she knew, the folder was snatched out of her hand. "Well, that was rude," Nikita stared up as Michael towered above her. "I was reading that."

"Enough, Nikita," Michael snapped, tossing the folder with unnecessary force across the room. He sat down across from her on the coffee table and leant forward, his eyes flashing. "I'm going to ask you this again: what are you _really _doing here?"

Nikita leaned back into the armchair and crossed her arms with a sigh. "Look. I know you don't trust me—"

"Damn straight."

"But I know how much this mission means to you. I want Kasim dead as much as you do. And I'm going to help you make that happen."

Michael's eyes darted across her expression, clearly trying to find some ulterior motive. "Why?" he asked finally, his tone laced with malice. "You got tired of working against Division, so now we're playing for the same team?"

Nikita stood up abruptly, her jaw set. "You know this isn't a game, Michael. I'm here because you need someone." She turned her back to him and walked to the window, "This doesn't change anything. You're still Division, and I'm still—"

"Nikita."

She smiled to herself as she stared out at the scenery, knowing that the way he had breathed her name was a sign of resignation. She turned to face him, "So, are we agreed then?"

Michael narrowed his eyes, "You'll follow my orders, correct?"

Nikita raised an eyebrow, a playful smile on her lips, "You know me. I'm all about following orders."

Michael shook his head, but amusement colored his eyes. "Percy was right…she is a lot like you."

"Who?"

"Just some new recruit," he shrugged off her question. "Percy likes calling her _Nikita 2.0." _

"Really? I didn't realize he missed me so much," Nikita murmured as she watched Michael closely. "What's her name?"

"Alex," Michael answered, mindlessly flipping through some papers. "Percy and Amanda have definitely got it out for that girl. I think she reminds them too much of you."

"Well, if she's anything like me then I'm sure she'll give them a run for their money."

"She's doing a pretty good job of it so far. She passed the evaluations today, at least."

"Amanda is still running those?" Nikita barely repressed a shudder, "Talk about brutal. Especially the mind simulation one."

Michael looked like he was debating on whether or not to tell her something, "Percy designed some program that allowed us to watch Alex's simulation." Nikita stiffened, but Michael didn't notice. "You were in it."

"I was in it," Nikita repeated, her voice deceptively neutral. "Division is more obsessed with me than I thought. Why would I be in some random recruit's simulation?"

Michael's mouth twitched, seemingly hiding a grin. "Apparently, you're the forbidden fruit. The ultimate _temptation_."

Nikita took a few steps forward, and Michael's eyes followed her every movement. "Am I?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. "How...interesting."

* * *

Alex hit enter repeatedly on the keyboard in frustration.

_THIS USER IS NOT ONLINE. _

_"_Come on, Nikita," she muttered, "Where are you?" She hit enter again, but there was still no response.

Scowling, she logged off the computer and made her way back up the stairs. She passed the glass panel facing the training room, and she paused to stare out into it. The rest of the recruits were all hard at work, and she could see Jaden furiously pummeling a punching bag. She was probably imagining it was Alex or something.

"Sometimes I miss it," a voice said by her ear, and Alex turned to see Thom standing by her shoulder. "It's so...safe."

Alex nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. Being a recruit was, for the most part, monotonous work. Training, evaluations, more training. It might be boring, but it was definitely safe. "But what you're doing is so much more exciting," Alex glanced at Thom from the corner of her eye. "Don't you like being a field agent?"

"I do," Thom answered quickly, "Of course I do. In fact, I have a new mission for tonight."

"Already? You just went on one last week," Alex frowned. "What is it this time?"

"Percy promised it would be simple," Thom tried to smile at her, "Security detail, I think."

"Oh."

"Come on," Thom slung an arm over he shoulders and led her into the weapons room. "Since you're so bored, you can help me get ready."

Alex rolled her eyes, but she smiled to herself nonetheless.

.

It was much later that night when Alex was back in her room, lying on her bed. She felt tired, mentally and physically. Her mind drifted to earlier that day, and the look on Michael's face when Percy had mentioned the name _Kasim_. Alex rubbed her hands over her eyes, trying to figure out why the name sounded so familiar. Nikita had definitely mentioned it at some point...

Alex drifted off into a half-sleep, consumed in her own thoughts. She almost didn't hear the faint creak of the door handle turning.

But, she definitely saw the light from the hallway as her door flew open.

"What—!" Alex tried to scream, but a large hand clamped over her mouth. Alex's eyes opened wide as another hand appeared, holding a small syringe. She struggled frantically as the syringe was inserted into her neck, but they were too strong for her.

She fell to the ground, unconscious.

.

Birkoff crossed his arms, feeling slightly nervous. Percy and Amanda sat on either side of him, their eyes glued to the security monitors. "Looks like everything is going according to plan," Percy commented.

Amanda smiled coldly, "Let the games begin."


	11. Gold Star

**A/N: **thanks for the alerts everyone! it's good to see more and more people are getting hooked to Nikita—totally one of the best shows on tv right now, in my opinion ;)

* * *

Sometimes, Micheal wondered if he was crazy. Here he was—in the middle of the woods—with his arch enemy.

And they were supposedly _working together. _As in, they were _on the same side_.

Yeah, he didn't understand how that had happened, either.

Michael glanced at Nikita from the corner of his eye, but she was focused solely on staking out Kasim's predetermined meeting place. He was about to look away, when she suddenly asked, "What's wrong?"

He rolled his eyes. Of course she knew that he was watching her. Nikita had always had a sixth sense for these kinds of things.

Or maybe she just had eyes in the back of her head.

He wouldn't be surprised.

"Nothing."

"Still trying to figure out if you can trust me?" she deduced correctly, a hint of a smile at her lips. "What else do I have to do to prove it to you?"

"Stop working against Division," Michael muttered, without any real conviction.

"You can't expect the impossible."

"I know. But I can _ask _for it."

Nikita shifted closer, "My place isn't at Division anymore. You know that."

"So this is your life now? Just travelling the world, getting in the way of Division's missions?" Michael paused, his eyes narrowing. "How do you even get your information? Do we have a mole I should know about?"

Nikita laughed easily, "I'm hurt, Michael. You don't think I could have pulled any of this off on my own?"

"I know you couldn't," he said, but his voice lifted in uncertainty.

"Give yourself a little credit; you're the man who trained me. You did good." She smiled then, a little ironically, "Gold star."

Michael shook his head, "Enough of your mind games, Nikita. We have a mission to focus on."

"Fine," Nikita peered through her binoculars. "But when you get back to Division, be sure to tell Amanda and Percy what an _awesome _job they've done with me. I'm sure Amanda will be happy to know her evaluations made me a stronger person. Mentally and physically."

Michael didn't say anything in response, but he noted the sincerity in her voice. "Amanda made that big of an impression on you, huh?"

"Sometimes a little crazy goes a long way."

"She's not _that _bad," Michael halfheartedly defended Division's Inquisitor. "There's a method to her madness…or so I'm told," his mouth lifted in a smirk when Nikita rolled her eyes.

"I'm just glad you were there for the recruits' evaluations. God knows what would have happened if you weren't."

"What are you talking about?"

Nikita looked surprised at his sharp tone, "It's just…well, you told me that Amanda and Percy don't like Alex. I would imagine that they went out of their way to make her third test unbearable. But you were there, so that's good."

Michael's mind seemed to be working more slowly than usual, and he frowned. "What third test?"

Nikita blinked, looking genuinely confused. "The test after the mind simulation? You know, where they torture you with the thing you fear most?"

"What is this, Big Brother?" Michael abandoned the pretense of looking through the trees for Kasim. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Nikita."

Nikita sat back on her heels. "That explains a lot," she murmured, almost to herself. "You never knew…"

He grabbed her arm roughly, causing her to drop her binoculars. It rolled down the embankment, and out of sight. "_Nikita_. What are you talking about? What did they make you do?"

She turned away at that, and her voice was strained when she answered. "That's not important."

"Are the recruits in danger?" Michael demanded abruptly, "Is Alex—"

"I don't know."

* * *

"Let me go!" Alex screamed, but her mouth was still gagged and the sound was muffled. She felt herself thrown into a hard chair, and someone fumbled with her wrists. She tried to shout again when she felt her wrists being twisted backwards and snapped into place with cold metal handcuffs. The gag was removed roughly from her mouth, but before she could say anything, someone punched her in the stomach. Hard.

Alex gasped out, completely winded. She bent over in pain, crying out as the handcuffs cut into her skin. "What's happening?" she choked out in agony, "Where am I?"

In response, her blindfold was removed.

Alex blinked several times, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. She felt panic rise in her chest when she realized she had absolutely no idea where she was. "Is this one of your stupid exercises?" she screamed out in desperation. "Amanda? Are you here? Where am I!" She tried to turn her head, but stopped short when a shooting pain travelled through her body, starting at her throat.

Dimly, she remembered being injected with something in her neck. She gritted her teeth to still the pain, and tried to force herself to calm down. She could feel someone behind her and she closed her eyes, slowly counting to ten. "Who's there?"

"Recruit #13, correct?" a deep voice inquired. Alex lifted her head, and watched as a figure walked around the chair until he was it front of her. The person snapped his fingers, and a dim light flickered on in the corner. Alex's eyes quickly scanned the room, her heart sinking when she didn't recognize the area at all. She looked up at the person standing in front of her, but he was dressed in all black; even his face was covered with a black ski mask.

"Where am I?" she whispered, wincing when the person slapped her across the face.

"I asked you a question," he said in a clipped tone. "Recruit #13?"

"YES, okay!" Alex shouted, "Who are you! Is this another exercise?"

"You don't get to ask the questions, recruit." The figure walked around her chair again, and stood behind her. Alex tensed when she felt his breath on her ear, "Tell me, unlucky number 13...What do you fear most?"

Alex swallowed, closing her eyes again. She could feel her heart thundering in her chest, and wouldn't be surprised if he could hear it, too. Experimentally, she twisted her hands in the cuffs, but they were too tight. She supposed she should be grateful for the metal cuffs—after all, that meant she wouldn't have to endure electric shock. Unless he was aiming to kill her, of course...

"I ASKED YOU A QUESTION!"

Alex screamed in pain this time when he delivered a sharp blow to her head. Stars exploded across her vision, and she felt helpless tears spring to the corners of her eyes. "I—I don't know!"

"You don't know? Come on, recruit," he sounded vaguely impatient now. "Everyone has something they fear."

"I don't know," she repeated, her voice wavering. "Just let me go, please!"

"Not an option, thirteen," his breath tickled her ear again. "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing! I don't know anything!" Alex pleaded, pulling uselessly at her arms. "What do you want with—" she suddenly paused, tensing when she heard the sound of a match being lit. "What are you doing?" she asked slowly, craning her neck around. She gasped when a lit match entered her vision.

"A little birdie told me that you're scared of fire," the man mused thoughtfully. "Is that right?"

Alex's eyes were wide, "N-no. I don't know what you're talking about."

He made a disbelieving sound, and blew the match out. Alex barely had time to sigh with relief before the man walked to the opposite corner of the room, and bent to pick something up. Alex squinted to see what it was, and her heart skipped a beat.

Oil.

Humming to himself, the man began pouring the oil in a careful swirl around Alex's chair. "NO, no! LET ME GO!" Alex screamed, thrashing in her chair. "Why are you doing this! I didn't do anything wrong, I SWEAR!"

The man paused, "Are you ready to tell me what you're hiding?"

"I'M NOT HIDING ANYTHING!"

He shrugged, and kept pouring oil until every last drop was gone. Without looking at Alex again, he dropped the oil can on the ground and left the room.

Alex was left by herself.

* * *

"I assume she's tied securely?" Percy asked as the man in black entered the Operations room.

"I've never had any complaints before," the man grinned as he pulled off his mask. "She's not going anywhere."

"An excellent job, Agent Ortiz," Amanda said approvingly. "What did you think of her response?"

"Definitely hiding something," the agent replied immediately, taking a seat behind them. "How long you think till she cracks?"

"This recruit is special," Percy leaned back in his chair, "I'd give her a couple hours."

Birkoff nervously chewed on some licorice sticks. "What made you choose fire as the thing she feared most? I've never heard her mention that before."

"During one of our sessions, Alex said she was scared of being underwater," Amanda replied with a distant smile. "I figured she was lying...so I chose the opposite."

The phone rang behind them, and Agent Ortiz leaned over to answer it. "Hello? What? Yeah he's right here...okay..." He handed the phone to Birkoff, "It's for you."

"For me? Who is it?"

"Micheal."

Amanda held up a hand, "Put it on speakerphone, then let Birkoff talk." The agent complied, and indicated that Birkoff should start talking.

"Yo, Michael. What's up?" Birkoff laughed uncomfortably, "Is the mission going okay? You get a hit on Kasim yet?"

"_Screw the mission!" _Michael snapped, sounding angry. "_What's going on over there?" _

_"_Um," Birkoff pulled at his collar, "What are you talking about?"

"_Don't play stupid with me," _Michael hissed, "_That bullshit might work with Per—"_

"Oh look, Alex is trying to get away again!" Birkoff announced loudly, gesturing at the screen. "Are you absolutely _sure _those handcuffs are secure?"

Amanda rolled her eyes at Percy, readying herself for Michael's protests. There was a brief silence, "_Alex is in handcuffs? What's going on over there? What happened?" _

"Not to worry, Michael," Percy said, sounding bored. "Your precious recruit is in safe hands. We'll handle it. You just focus on Kasim."

"_Listen—"_

_"_It's all part of the evaluations," Amanda cut him off. "Don't let yourself get distracted. We'll debrief you when you return to Division."

"_But—" _

_"_Goodbye, Michael." Amanda said smoothly, and hung up the phone. She smiled coldly and returned her gaze to the security screen, "On with the show..."


	12. Savior

Birkoff felt his eyelids lowering, and he slumped over on his desk. He was completely exhausted. Blearily, he squinted at his watch…almost dawn.

And Alex still hadn't cracked.

He groaned loudly in annoyance, and rested his head in his hands for a split second.

"BIRKOFF!"

The tech jumped, and scrambled in his chair to turn around. Percy and Amanda were standing by the door, looking immaculate.

_They _had gotten a few hours of sleep, after all.

"We told you to call us if there was any change in the situation," Amanda said accusingly. "It's nearly daybreak; are you telling me that nothing has happened yet?"

Birkoff gestured at the screens, letting them see for themselves. "_Nada_. She hasn't moved, hasn't said anything, and hasn't tried to escape."

"Interesting," Amanda mused as she sat back down. "Any food or water?"

Birkoff shook his head. "Ortiz has been in there a few times to check up on her, but she refuses to spill."

Percy's mouth set into a grim line, "Then perhaps it's time for a little incentive. What do you think, Amanda?"

"I agree. This has gone on long enough. We don't have all day."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Birkoff held up his hands hastily, "What are you guys planning on doing?"

Amanda met his gaze steadily, "Alex needs to know that her attackers won't always be bluffing. While recruits may be kidnapped for information, sometimes they'll also be taken simply to _send a message. _And I think it's time we did just that." She reached over and pressed a button, "Start the fire."

Birkoff's eyes widened, "Wait, you're actually going to go through with this? I thought the fire was just a threat to get her to talk!"

"It is," Amanda said calmly. "Hopefully she'll see that she's in danger and will give up her secret."

"But—"

"Get a grip," Percy snapped. "We're not going to burn the girl alive. Let's just see what happens."

"But what if she's not hiding anything?" Birkoff ventured nervously. "I mean, what if she's telling the truth?"

Amanda leveled him a look, "Don't be so naive. I know she's hiding something. And I'm going to find out what that is. One way or another."

* * *

Alex's eyes were closed as she drifted in and out of consciousness. She had no idea how long she had been held captive for, and she had completely lost track of time.

_Amanda...Percy...Division. _She repeated the words in her head, almost like a mantra. It was the only thing keeping her going. They were evil. Insane.

They needed to be stopped.

She had no idea what Amanda was hoping to achieve by locking her up, but she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of breaking down. Even though Nikita hadn't prepared her for _this _per se, she had been trained to persevere. If Division thought she was close to breaking point, then they were wrong.

As her head dropped down to her chest in exhaustion, she heard the door behind her open again. Alex didn't bother to turn around.

"Feel like talking yet?" Agent Ortiz asked, once more donning the all-black getup.

"No comment."

He heaved a sigh, "Your funeral."

"What?"

The man looked at her, but she couldn't see his expression through the mask. "The people I work for are getting a _little _impatient with you. Let's just say...they're done playing games."

"What are you talking about?"

He shrugged, and reached into his pocket for his lighter. "Sorry, recruit. Your time is up." With that, he walked over to the far corner of the room and crouched down. Watching Alex, he let his lighter fall to the ground.

"NO!" Alex shouted, "Let me go! I don't know anything!"

The man paused at the door, "If you decide you want to give up your secret...we'll be listening."

He locked the door behind him.

Alex screamed again, struggling against the handcuffs. She felt tears run down her face in agony as the metal cuffs dug into her already-bloodied wrists. "PLEASE!" she pleaded, "I'm not hiding anything!" In desperation, she tried to move the chair closer to the door, but only succeeded in causing the chair to fall over.

She hit the ground hard, still trapped to the chair. Her eyes widened in horror as she watched the flames rapidly approaching her. Black smoke engulfed the room, and she began coughing from lack of oxygen. "Please," she whispered, raising her tear-stained face towards the camera in the corner.

There was no response.

Her energy entirely spent, she closed her eyes in defeat.

.

"ALEX!" someone shouted. Dimly, she heard the door open and someone swearing loudly. "Get me the key to the handcuffs! NOW!" She tried to open her eyes, but could only see smoke. As her vision blurred, she felt someone grab her wrists desperately. With a small _click_, she was suddenly released from the handcuffs.

Alex felt her arms drop like heavy weights to the ground. Except..._where was the ground? _She frowned as her arms swung uselessly in mid-air. Confused, she tried to draw in a breath but only began coughing again. "Hey, come on, breathe," a voice said urgently. "Come on, Alex..."

She drew in another shuddering breath, surprised when clean air and oxygen reached her lungs. Sputtering slightly, she opened her eyes and blinked several times. Slowly, Michael's face filled her vision. He looked extremely relieved."Oh thank god you're alright," he breathed out, the panicked look fading from his eyes somewhat. "I thought..."

"What...happened?" Alex asked slowly, wincing as her throat burned.

"I'm so sorry," Michael tightened his grip on her. "I had no idea..."

Alex looked around, noticing that they were both on the floor. Michael was crouched down, clutching Alex to him tightly. She let her gaze drift to the right, and saw a closed door. Through the tiny window at the top, she could see flames. "Th—that room! It's on fire! We need to get out of here!"

She started to push herself out of Michael's arms, but he clung to her. "It's okay," he soothed. "The fire will be contained. That's what that room is for."

Alex stopped struggling, and frowned. "Wait...where are we? Where was I?"

He hesitated, "You're still in Division."

Alex paused as she tried to process this information. "Division...wanted to _cancel _me?"

"No," Michael responded at once, closing his eyes briefly as though he was in pain. "No, I would never let that happen."

As her vision became clearer, Alex began to notice Michael's face. He was sporting a black eye, and numerous bruises along his jawline. "Oh my god, what happened to you?" she breathed, reaching up to touch his face. She stopped before she actually made contact, and let her hand fall to the side. "Are you okay? You look awful."

Michael's lips twitched like he was hiding a grin, "Says the girl who's covered in ashes."

Alex rolled her eyes as he helped her stand up. He held her close as they began walking towards an elevator at the end of the white corridor. "Seriously," she insisted, "What happened to you? Did the mission—"

"Kasim got away," Michael's demeanor changed suddenly, and he straightened. His eyes flashed with anger, "Nikita got in the way. Again."

Alex looked at the fury in his face and knew better than to ask any other questions.

* * *

***hope everyone enjoyed the return of Michael! ;) **


	13. Like Hell

Michael stormed into Operations, the door banging off the wall and ricocheting in his anger. He glared at everyone in the room, all of whom promptly scattered back to their stations. But he only had eyes for the three people sitting in the corner of the room. As he advanced on them, Birkhoff squirmed nervously, Percy pulled on his tie uncomfortably, and Amanda twitched—ever so slightly.

"Ah, Michael," she smiled at him after a long pause. "Back so soon? How did the mission go? Did you finally extract your revenge on Kasim?"

Michael clenched and unclenched his jaw several times before answering. "As I'm sure you know, Kasim got away at the airport. Nikita got in the way, as she usually does."

For once, Amanda actually looked confused, and she exchanged a glance with Birkhoff—who looked equally as puzzled. "What is he talking about, Percy?" Amanda asked in a clipped tone, clearly miffed at not knowing this bit of vital information.

Percy heaved a sigh, looking distinctly annoyed. He reached across the table and pulled a folder towards him; he proceeded to hand it over to Amanda without looking at it. She flipped it open immediately while Michael looked on over her shoulder. His eyes narrowed when he saw a series of security-camera photos of himself and Nikita in Yemen.

"You _knew _Nikita was in danger of compromising Michael's mission?" Amanda demanded stiffly. "Why didn't you send in a team?"

"Oh, he did," Michael interrupted, cocking his head questioningly in Percy's direction. "Problem is, I'm pretty sure they were more interested in cancelling Nikita than helping me…"

"That's absurd," Percy huffed. "I sent them in with strict orders to help you kill Kasim. If they went after Nikita, then she must have clearly been standing in the way of the mission—which, you've just told me, wasindeed the case."

Michael stared at him expressionlessly. "Let me just make this clear. I do not care why Nikita or Division agents suddenly appeared in Yemen on what was _supposed _to be a secret mission. What I _do _care about is _what the hell was going on here!" _

Birkoff flinched, and even Percy took a tiny step backwards before catching himself. Amanda, on the other hand, looked entirely unruffled by Michael's rage. "Please control yourself, Michael," she responded calmly. "The only events that transpired in your absence were the continuation of the recruit evaluations. Which, if I'm not mistaken, you already knew were happening?"

He slowly leaned forward until his hands were on either side of Amanda's chair and their faces were inches apart. "Oh yes," he hissed, "But for some reason, I don't seem to recall the evaluation where Division attempts to BURN ITS OWN RECRUITS TO DEATH!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Percy snapped. "You don't honestly believe that we were going to let the girl burn, do you?"

"I don't know what to believe." Michael straightened so he could look Percy in the eye, "Did you authorize this?"

"No, I did," Amanda stood up and crossed her arms. "These are my evaluations, Michael. I needed to know how much psychological torture Alex could take."

"_Psychological torture?" _Micheal shouted, "She had no food or water! She was handcuffed and left to burn alive! What part of that is _psychological?_"

"She was not left to 'burn alive' as you put it," Percy gestured to Birkhoff, "Show him the footage from the room." Birkhoff hastily pressed a few buttons before pulling up a screen. Michael watched as several men, including Agent Ortiz, worked to put out the fire. "See?" Percy asked blandly, "We had people waiting in the hallway to pull her out if she didn't talk."

Michael neither believed nor cared for Percy's bald-faced lies anymore. "You were cutting it pretty close, don't you think?" Michael asked sarcastically. "She was nearly unconscious when I got to her." He crossed his arms, "Tell me what the point of all this was, again?"

"Alex fears fire," Amanda responded, her voice taking on an edge. "And she's hiding something. I needed to find out what that was."

Michael stared at her incredulously before turning to face Percy. "I am second-in-command at Division, sir. I would like your confirmation that this will never happen again while I am not present at Divison. After all, these are _my _recruits, and it is _my job _to train them."

Percy considered him for a moment, "Agreed."

* * *

Alex sat in her bed, her knees drawn up to her chest. She was freshly showered, and had changed into a black hooded sweatshirt and black sweatpants.

All black. It suited her mood perfectly.

She glanced at the small table to her right and saw the glass of water and tray of food that someone had left there for her. She took a tiny sip of water, wincing as her throat burned from the smoke inhalation. She gently placed the glass back on the table and stared at the food unseeingly.

_They had actually tried to kill her. _Her hands clenched into fists..._after all the hard work she had put into Division, they would have cancelled her without a second thought! _Before she knew what was happening, tears formed in her eyes and slowly rolled down her cheeks.

There was a knock at her door at that moment, and Alex hastily wiped the tears off her face. Michael walked in, still looking slightly angry. He shut the door behind him and walked towards Alex, taking in her tear-stained face. In contrast to the hard look in his eyes, his voice was surprisingly gentle. "How are you feeling?"

Alex merely looked at him, and he looked away. He took a deep breath, not meeting her gaze. "I _am _sorry, Alex. I had no idea the kind of extremes that Amanda would go to in order to prove her point."

"Are you really surprised?" Alex's voice was thin, and she hated that she sounded weak. "Because I'm not."

"I didn't think..." Michael started, but trailed off. He looked up again, and she could see the determination in his gaze. "I got Percy to agree to never run anything like this again when I'm not here."

Alex didn't say anything. _Too little, too late. _

Michael waited for her response, but he stood up when it became clear that she wasn't going to say anything more on the subject. "Is there anything else I can get you?"

"No, I'm fine."

He hesitated at the foot of her bed, and suddenly walked towards her. She watched in confusion as he touched her arm, and slowly rolled up one of the sleeves. He examined her wrist, the anger returning to his face. "Did you go to Medical for these bruises?"

Alex snatched her arm out of his grasp and forcefully pulled her sleeve down again. "I'm fine," she repeated, but her voice was softer when she added, "And thank you. For saving my life."

Michael nodded at her silently and turned to leave. Before he opened the door, he paused and faced her again. "They're not going to stop, you know. Amanda and Percy are determined to find out whatever secret they think you're hiding from them." Alex opened her mouth furiously, but Michael held up a hand to silence her. "I don't care if you are or aren't hiding something. I don't want to know. But you should know that they won't rest until they _get some answers. _Whether it's the truth or not."

Alex closed her mouth against her protests. She understood that Michael was giving her a warning, in the only way he could. She nodded, "I understand."

Michael opened the door and leaned against the threshold, a small smile playing at his lips. "By the way, I'm very impressed with how you resisted Amanda's efforts at torture. You'll make a valuable Division agent someday." Alex smiled faintly back at him, and watched as he closed the door behind him.

The minute he was gone, the smile faded from her lips. "Like Hell."


	14. First Time

Alex sat in the dining commons, staring at her tray of untouched food. She almost felt like she had come a full circle since this had all started. Had it only been a couple weeks ago that she had been sitting in this exact spot, contemplating her future at Division?

And now she felt like she had to constantly look over her shoulder for Amanda and Percy's next move. If there was one thing she was sure of, she knew that Michael had been right: Division would stop at nothing to expose her secret.

As Alex looked up from her food, she caught Jaden staring at her from across the room—the look in her eyes anything but friendly. Alex glared back at her unflinchingly until Jaden looked away.

Alex kept staring at the other recruit for a few moments. Sure, she and Jaden had never really got along…but lately it seemed like Jaden had some kind of personal vendetta against Alex. Sometimes she even wondered if Amanda and Percy had some sort of deal with Jaden. Maybe she had been promised agent-status if she somehow got Alex kicked out of Division? _More like cancelled, _Alex reminded herself with a scowl.

"Heads up!" a voice called across the commons, and all of the recruits turned around curiously.

One of the guards stood by the staircase, a clipboard in hand. He consulted it briefly before looking up and gesturing at Alex. "_You. _Amanda has requested your presence in her office. Immediately."

"Ooh, what did you do now, Alex?" Jaden mock-whispered across the room, her eyes glinting maliciously.

Alex stiffened nervously. "Why?" she stalled, hoping to get some more information about why she was being called to Amanda's office—again.

"You're not being trained to ask questions," the guard snapped, "Let's go."

"But—"

"Alex," a voice called from the other side of the room.

She turned around to see Michael standing at the other entrance, frowning at the guard. He turned his gaze back to Alex, his eyes unreadable. "You've been activated for a mission. Amanda needs to debrief you. Come on."

"You've got to be kidding me," Jaden hissed under her breath as Alex passed her, so that Alex could hear her clearly. "There's no _way _you could be activated for _another _mission."

"Quit being so jealous," Alex snapped, pausing for a brief moment in front of Jaden. "I never did anything to you!"

"Quit sleeping with Michael, and maybe I won't have a reason to hate you," Jaden snapped back with equal venom.

Alex's eyes widened in shock, "I'm not—"

"ALEX! NOW!" Michael called out, his voice raised with impatience. "This is an important mission; we don't have all day!"

Jaden scowled at Alex knowingly, and Alex muttered under her breath as she hurried towards Michael. He barely glanced at her as he pushed her none too gently out the door and into the hallway.

"Alright, alright!" Alex exclaimed, shoving Michael's hand off of her shoulder. "I'm going! What's the big rush, anyway?"

"Amanda doesn't like to be kept waiting," Michael responded tersely, "And neither do I, for that matter."

Alex raised an eyebrow in surprise, "What's with you?" She paused and then added unnecessarily, "Nikita got under your skin again?"

Michael stopped in his tracks, "Why? What have you heard?"

"Nothing," Alex responded quickly, alarmed by Michael's attitude. "What's wrong with you?"

He closed his eyes, and rubbed his hand over his face, suddenly looking exhausted. "I'm sorry, Alex. It's been a long week, and this mission was supposed to be all set. But the agent dropped out at the last minute, and now we need to use you..."

Alex bit her lip, "Whose idea was it to use me? Yours?"

"No," Michael's jaw twitched. "Percy seemed to think you were the next-best candidate for the mission. He requested you personally."

Alex swallowed, her fears confirmed. She grabbed Michael's arm to slow his pace as they walked towards Amanda's office. "Wait a second," she whispered, "What happened to the other agent? The one that dropped out last minute? Where did she go?"

Michael stared back at her, his gaze intense with some emotion that she couldn't quite identify, "Alex, that agent is dead."

"_Dead?" _Alex hissed, "How? Did Amanda—"

"I'm not authorized to give you that information," Michael suddenly interrupted her, his voice taking on a formal edge. "Now, let's just get to Amanda's office so we can hurry up and debrief you."

"You're _not authorized_," Alex repeated incredulously, her hand reaching out to grab Michael's arm again. "When has that ever stopped you before? What's going on here?" Alex moved so that she was standing directly in front of him. He gazed down at her, looking slightly annoyed. "There's something going on here that you're not telling me," she said accusingly, "What is it?"

"Don't push me, Alex," he warned in a low voice as he sidestepped her and began walking again. To Alex's surprise, he placed his hand on the small of her back, and gently guided her along. Alex turned her head to look at him, but she was startled when he leaned close to her, his lips by her ear. "The walls have ears," he murmured cryptically, before releasing his hold on her.

Alex kept walking, trying to keep her face blank. _What the hell was that supposed to mean? Were they being watched at this very moment? _Alex supposed the answer to that question was a resounding _yes. _This was, after all, Division. It couldn't get more Big Brother than this.

They reached Amanda's office shortly, and she met them at the door with a cool smile. "Ready for your second mission, Alex?"

"Sure," Alex said confidently, feeling Michael standing close behind her. "What do I have to do?"

Amanda's smile grew wider, "You get to experience your first kill. Now, doesn't that sound exciting?"


	15. Right Fit

**A/N: **wow, I can't believe this is already the 15th chapter! thanks to everyone that's been reading/reviewing. just to let you guys know, i'll be probably wrap this story up within the next few chapters :)

* * *

Alex stood in front of the full-length mirror, carefully examining her reflection. She was wearing a tight, strapless red dress that hugged her figure and ended several inches above her knees. She tilted her head and ran a hand over the silky material—she had never in her life owned something so…exquisite.

"Stunning," a deep voice said from behind her, "But can you fight in it?"

Alex gasped and whirled around to see Michael enter the room, his eyes appraising as he studied her outfit. He cleared his throat, "Has Amanda debriefed you yet?"

"She just said something about a wedding," Alex responded quickly, crossing her arms in front of her. "Then she told me to pick one of these dresses…where did she go, anyway?"

"Amanda had to attend to a prisoner downstairs," Michael replied, shutting the door behind him. He glanced at the rack of dresses that Amanda had left in her office, and raised an eyebrow. "So, is that the dress you've chosen?"

Alex shifted, suddenly uncomfortable. "Why? Do you think it's too much?"

His lips twitched, as though he was hiding a smile. "You wouldn't want to outshine the bride, would you?"

She flushed, "Okay. Point taken. Too much?"

He shrugged in response. "You haven't answered the question. Can you fight in it?" Then—to Alex's extreme bewilderment—he crouched slightly into a combat pose, his hands raised into fists. He raised an eyebrow at her, "Scared?"

Alex brushed off her initial shock, and smirked back at him nonchalantly, "Never." She shifted her weight forward, and lunged at him. She was a little taken aback when he matched her every attempt to get past his defenses. She glimpsed his expression briefly as she ducked to avoid his fists—he was definitely enjoying this.

As a last resort, she attempted to kick him backwards so she would have the advantage—momentarily forgetting that she was wearing a skin-tight dress. She gave a gasp of surprise as she stumbled forwards, tripping on her high heels.

It took her a second to realize that she hadn't fallen flat on her face; then, she realized it was because Michael had caught her in his arms. "Thanks," she mumbled, straightening herself out. She was breathing hard, and was annoyed to see that he hadn't even broken a sweat. "I guess this wasn't the right dress after all."

He raised an arm towards the rack of dresses with a grin, "Give me your best shot."

.

.

Several dresses later, Alex had successfully pinned Michael against the wall. He grinned at her as she pressed her arm against his throat, "You got me."

She didn't release her hold for several seconds, and brought her face closer to his. "Damn straight," she breathed, before letting go. She grinned as she took several steps backwards and whirled around, so that her dress flared in a perfect circle. "What do you think?"

"Wonderful choice, Alex," Amanda announced as she suddenly appeared at the doorway. She circled Alex, examining the dress critically. "Well, I certainly approve. What about you, Michael?"

He shot her a look before turning back to Alex, "It's beautiful."

"Thanks," Alex replied, adjusting the dress self-consciously. The top half of it was white and it cinched at her waist with a navy blue ribbon. The rest of the dress flared out from her hips in some sort of flowy material—perfect for concealing weapons in. She focused her attention back on Amanda, "So, what's the mission?"

Amanda's heels clicked across the floor as she walked over to her desk to retrieve a folder. "The target is the ambassador," she explained as she handed the folder to Alex. "His daughter is getting married tomorrow. Prior to your involvement, I had already infiltrated the wedding party as the main wedding photographer."

"So...I'm supposed to be your assistant or something?" Alex frowned as she flipped through the file. It didn't bode well for her mission that Amanda, of all people, was going to be there. She glanced at Michael, and saw that he was also frowning slightly.

"Since when do you go on missions, Amanda?" he asked, eyeing her suspiciously. "Were you not able to find anyone else to take the photos?"

"No one else fit our prototype," she replied smoothly. "And to answer your question, Alex, no you will not be my assistant. In fact, it is essential that we make no contact during the party. Thom will also be there serving drinks. It is imperative that you act as though you have never met either of us before."

"Okay," Alex said slowly. "So, exactly how am I supposed to get into the wedding party?"

Percy suddenly walked into the room, his expression unreadable as he glanced over Alex. He nodded at Amanda before turning to Michael, "Has Amanda told you the change in protocol for tomorrow night?"

"No, sir. Amanda was just filling Alex in on her mission." He paused, "What's the change?"

"We have spoken to the ambassador about security detail," Percy clapped a hand on Michael's shoulder, "So we wrangled you an invite to the wedding party. You just have to blend in as one of the guests."

"Of course," Michael took the change in plans in stride. "But how is Alex going to blend in if she's not invited?"

Percy smiled coldly, "As your date, of course."


	16. Identity

"You said your name was Michael?" the man outside the gates frowned deeply, flipping through his clipboard. "I'm afraid you're not on the list. Are you a friend of the groom or the bride?"

Alex watched as Michael slid something out of his pocket and showed it to the guard. She caught the words "security detail" before the man nodded hurriedly, murmuring apologies under his breath. "Yes, of course. The ambassador mentioned that he hired a personal security team for this event." He paused, glancing at Alex, "So, is it just you, then?"

"This is Alex," Michael's arm tightened around her shoulders. "Don't worry, she's a highly trained member of my team."

The guard looked highly skeptical, "But she's…just a girl."

Alex leaned forward, and smiled sweetly. "A girl who can kick your ass," she corrected, enjoying watching the guard flinch.

Michael pulled her backwards and shot her a warning glance, though there was a touch of amusement in his eyes. "Sorry about that," he apologized insincerely to the guard. "We don't let her out much. She can get a bit…enthusiastic about her job. You understand."

The guard straightened up suddenly, a look of dawning comprehension washing over his features. "Oh! This is _the girl?" _

Michael looked confused, "Excuse me?"

"Oh, it's okay!" the guard said with a grin, his demeanor changing completely. "The ambassador told me everything...He mentioned that you would be bringing along an _escort." _

Alex's eyes widened, and Michael stiffened. "The ambassador told you that?" he questioned, his voice betraying none of the incredulity mirrored in his eyes.

"Of course," the man winked, now leering at Alex. "I must say, she's one of the best looking ones I've seen…" He smirked at Michael, "I'm guessing you've tapped that?"

"Nothing but our best for the ambassador," Michael replied, neatly deflecting the question.

"Indeed," he grinned again, letting his gaze rake obviously over Alex's body. At that moment, several other guests arrived behind them, chattering happily. The guard cleared his throat, consulting his clipboard once more. "All set, sir. Enjoy the wedding."

"Thank you," Michael said briskly, ushering Alex through the gate.

The minute they were out of earshot, she turned to him angrily. "What the _hell _was that about?" she hissed, jerking out of his grip in fury. "Do you know how _humiliating _that was? How could you let him think that—that I was some kind of prostitute!"

"Lower your voice," Michael cautioned, looking around to make sure they weren't being overheard. "Look, I'm sorry but that's apparently the story that Percy told the ambassador so that you could get close enough to complete your mission. It's your cover story now. You're going to have to deal, got it?"

Alex stared up at him in disbelief, her face still flushed with embarrassment. "I can't believe that you're going along with this," she said in a harsh whisper, crossing her arms in front of her. "What happened to your whole '_I'll always protect you' _spiel? Just more of your bullshit?"

Michael's eyes flashed in warning, "This is your mission, Alex. Do you want to graduate to field agent or not?"

Alex gritted her teeth, "Of course I do."

"Then quit making a scene, and let's get inside," Michael said tensely. "We don't want to attract any attention, remember?"

Alex took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Nikita's voice rang in her mind, '_We all wear masks. Everyone, everyday. Sometimes we wear them so much we forget who we really are…'_

"Fine, let's get this over with," she said abruptly, raising her eyebrows at Michael expectantly. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he merely slid an arm around her waist and led her into the mansion. Alex plastered a smile to her face as they nodded and smiled at all the guests gathered over the threshold.

Once they had fully entered the main hall, Alex found herself scanning the room for familiar faces. She immediately sought out Thom standing behind a table, serving drinks. Almost as if he could feel her gaze on him, he looked up and saw Alex. He gave her an almost imperceptible nod, before turning his attention back to pouring out champagne.

"Remember, you don't know him," Michael said under his breath, steering her further into the house and away from Thom. "Keep your eyes peeled for the ambassador," he added, pulling Alex in another direction when they both caught sight of Amanda. She was standing with a small group of people, including the bride.

"She looks so happy," Alex said without thinking.

Michael gave her a weird look, "Who? Amanda?"

"No. I meant the bride."

"She's getting married, why wouldn't she be happy?"

"That's not what I meant…never mind, it's not important." Michael nodded distantly, clearly not paying attention to what Alex was saying. She brushed off her annoyance, and glanced at the bride again. _Division was going to kill this girl's father on the happiest day of her life…god, they really were a bunch of sick, twisted, unfeeling—_

"Eyes right," Michael whispered suddenly, stepping closer to Alex on the pretense of brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Alex ignored this gesture and glanced casually over to her right. Ah, the ambassador. He was laughing as he walked over to Thom, his hand held out for a glass of the champagne.

"Wouldn't it just be easier to slip something into his drink?" she asked, her voice tinged with nervousness.

"That's a last resort," Michael answered, casually taking Alex's hand within his own. "Come on, let's introduce ourselves."

Alex bit her lip as he dragged her over to the ambassador. He had just raised the glass to his lips when he turned and saw them. He looked slightly confused for a moment before Michael held out his hand. "It's an honor to meet you, ambassador. I'm Michael..." he lowered his voice, "Part of the security detail that you hired?"

"Oh yes," the ambassador's expression cleared in understanding. He glanced over at Alex, his mouth curling up appreciatively. "So that means that this is..."

"Your escort, yes," Michael replied smoothly, tightening his own hand around Alex's and weaving their fingers together. "I thought it would be easiest if we pretended she was here as my date, so as to not raise any suspicion from your family or any of your other guests."

"Of course," the ambassador nodded eagerly. "Shall we set up a time and place to, ah, make the exchange?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"The money?"

"Right," Michael said briskly, "Name your conditions."

The ambassador appeared to think for a moment, and he glanced at his watch. "Shall we say in an hour? There is a master bedroom upstairs; just walk through this room and take the stairs at the end of the hall. The bedroom will be the first door on the right."

"That sounds fine, doesn't it Alex?"

..._all wear masks...everyone, everyday..._

Alex smiled seductively, and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I'm looking forward to _meeting _you, ambassador."

He grinned back at her, his eyes lighting up in excitement. "An hour it is, then. In the meantime, feel free to mingle," he waved an arm around the room, "Dance, drink, eat. You're my guests, after all," he gave them a subtle wink before downing the alcohol in his hand and disappearing into the crowd.

Alex watched him go, and swallowed.

One hour.

One hour till she made her first kill.

One hour until she became a field agent.

She glanced behind her to see Thom watching her carefully, his expression blank. At that moment, Amanda walked over. She didn't look over at Alex or Michael at all. "One drink, please," she said to Thom, smiling at him politely.

"One for me as well," Michael said, shifting forward slightly so that he was next to Amanda. "You didn't tell me that Alex had to pretend to be an _escort," _he muttered under his breath, his voice laced with anger. "Did you forget, or did you know that I wouldn't go along with the plan if that was the case?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Amanda replied, her voice deceptively neutral. "Thank you," she added to Thom as he handed her a drink. "It was nice meeting you," she said to Michael, smiling at him innocently. "Hope you enjoy the rest of the party."

"You too," he said coldly, watching her go. "Come on," he said to Alex, holding out his hand. "We'll have to make it look believable that you're my date."

Alex stared down at his hand in confusion, "By doing what?"

Michael raised his eyebrow at her, "Dancing."


	17. Two to Tango

"So, I'm thinking Division should start teaching its recruits how to dance. What do you think?"

"Shut up."

Michael hid a smile as he tightened his hands on Alex's waist and drew her closer to him. "Loosen up a bit," he murmured into her ear, "We're being watched."

Alex shifted tensely, and reached up to wrap her arms loosely around his shoulders. "Better?" she asked under her breath, scanning the room as Michael slowly moved them in a circle.

"I know you might not like me very much, but could you at least _pretend_ you're enjoying this?"

"It's not—look, this has nothing to do with you," Alex whispered back, "I'm just nervous."

"Don't be," Michael drew her even closer, and she jumped when she felt his lips brush her neck. "Reach into my pocket, and pull out the syringe," he said quietly, "And place it into one of the hidden folds of your dress. It's filled with potassium chloride. When you get close enough to the ambassador, aim for the larynx. One move is all it takes."

Alex bit her lip as she shifted forward so their bodies were nearly molded together. Keeping her eyes trained above his shoulder, she slowly felt the front of his jacket for the syringe. Locating the pocket, she subtly drew the syringe out and placed it into her dress, taking care to keep their bodies as close together as possible so no one else could see what was happening.

"Got it?"

"Yeah," she breathed out, trying to relax, "How much time left?"

"15 minutes," Michael twirled her around suddenly, and Alex gasped out in surprise as he brought her back to him. "Have a little fun in the meantime," he smirked at her, and she rolled her eyes in response.

"I thought you Division people didn't know how to have fun," she teased, grinning when he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh really?" In a swift movement, he twirled her around again and this time dipped her dramatically. Caught off guard, Alex laughed lightly and used his shoulders to pull herself back up. "Care to change your opinion?" he asked innocently, keeping a straight expression.

"Hmm, I'll have to think about it," Alex answered mischievously, "What else you got?"

"Well—"

"That's a _lovely _dress," a heavily accented voice interrupted from behind them, and Alex turned around to see a gorgeous Russian woman. She had long, pale blonde hair and was wearing a stunning red dress. "Forgive me," the woman said with a friendly smile, "My name is Nathalia, the ambassador's wife. He told me that you're the security detail he hired?"

"Yes," Michael confirmed, shaking her hand briefly. "Congratulations on your daughter's wedding," he gestured around them, "Your home is beautiful."

"Thank you," she said appreciatively, and then turned to look at Alex. "And might I say, your date is simply _breathtaking_. Where _did _you get that dress?"

"It's, ah..." Alex floundered helplessly, not prepared for this line of questioning.

"I got it specially imported from France," Michael stepped in smoothly, wrapping his arm around Alex's waist. "I knew she would love it."

Nathalia clapped her hands together in delight. "That's so romantic," she cooed, and winked at Alex, "You're a lucky girl."

"Oh believe me, I know," Alex smiled back at her, and leaned her head against Michael's shoulder. "He's always been good to me."

"Well, you two be sure to stick around," Nathalia advised, "We're having our photographer take pictures of all the couples, and you wouldn't want to miss out!" She gave them a friendly wave before walking back over to her husband.

"Ugh, that's so sick," Alex hissed as they began dancing again. "He has a _wife? _And he hired a prostitute? There is something seriously wrong with him!"

Michael didn't smile. "He's an overseas drug lord, Alex. I think he stopped caring for his family a long time ago." Alex didn't say anything to that, though she supposed it was meant to help her feel better about being ordered to kill him. "7 minutes till the exchange," Michael added, glancing at his watch once more.

Alex felt a wave of uneasiness run through her body, and she swayed on her feet unsteadily. With a small gasp, she clutched onto Michael's shoulders, noting that he looked concerned. "I'm okay," she said quickly, "I can do this."

Michael watched with narrowed eyes as the ambassador said something to his wife before he started making his way through the room, presumably to get upstairs to the bedroom. "I know you can," Michael said in an undertone. "The target is on the move to the predetermined location," he whispered to Alex, leaning forward slightly so that he could look her in the eyes. "Are you ready for this?"

"Yes," Alex said firmly, taking a deep breath. She subtly brushed the pocket of her dress, "I have everything I need."

Michael nodded at her, and then glanced at something over her shoulder. Then, without warning, he suddenly tipped her head backwards and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. Alex blinked in surprise, but it was over before she could even process what had just happened. "Be careful," he murmured, and then pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'll be waiting down here if anything goes wrong."

Alex could only blink again as she she slowly made her way out of the room. Before she left, she looked backwards to make sure no one had noticed her leaving. Amanda caught her eye for a split of a second before promptly turning away to keep taking pictures. Thom, on the other hand, was staring at her intensely. He had a strange expression on her face, and didn't acknowledge the fact that Alex was gazing at him. She shrugged her shoulders to show that she didn't know what his issue was, before she slipped quietly out of the room and headed for the staircase.

.

Michael downed his drink, and held out his hand for another one. Thom cleared his throat, "Er, haven't you had a lot to drink already?"

"Careful, Michael," Amanda said, appearing at his side. "This may be a wedding party, but no one is drunk enough to not notice the scowling man in the corner."

He ignored the jibe, and touched his earpiece discreetly. "There's been no word from Alex," he said shortly, "What if something went wrong?"

"It's only been ten minutes," Amanda reminded him, taking a small sip of her drink. She gave him a twisted smile, "It takes a bit longer than that to seduce a man, as I'm sure you know."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," she answered delicately. "Say, do you think Alex is fulfilling her duties as an _escort_? That might explain why she's taking so long..."

A muscle twitched in his jaw, "Listen—"

He was interrupted, however, by a shrill scream.

Followed by lots of shouting.

Nathalia raised her eyes to the ceiling in alarm, "Oh my god, what's happening!"

"Stay right here, ma'am," Michael rushed by her, unholstering his hidden gun along the way. There were more screams from the guests as Thom jumped over the drinks table, pulling out his own gun.

"Get back!" Amanda shouted, "Everyone out!" She began ushering everyone out the door, her own hand raised to her earpiece. "Michael, what's going on up there?"

.

"The door is jammed!" Michael shouted, exchanging a glance with Thom. "On three...two..one!" They both leapt forward, and the door flew open against their combined weight. Michael's gaze searched wildly across the room, and he nearly dropped his gun in shock.

The ambassador was on his knees, with both hands in the air. Alex stood in the corner, her dress ripped in several pieces. The syringe lay on the floor in front of her, broken. And standing in the middle of the room, pointing a gun at the ambassador, was none other than...

"Hello, Michael. Fancy meeting you here."

"Nikita."


	18. Charm

**A/N: **Happy Holidays!

* * *

Michael liked to think that (as second-in-command at Division) he had seen it all; that there was nothing more in this world that could shock him.

Unfortunately, Nikita seemed determined to prove him wrong.

"What the _hell _are you doing here?" he demanded, pointing his gun firmly in her direction. He ignored the fact that both Thom, and Nikita herself, were pointing their weapons at the ambassador. "I won't let you ruin another mission, Nikita," he glowered at her, "Not this time."

"And here I was, thinking that I was doing you a favor," she said blandly, not looking the least bit concerned. "Though it's been a while since I've crashed a mission," she added as an afterthought. "I thought you might have missed me."

"Like hell," Michael snapped, tightening his grip on his firearm. He lowered his voice to a growl, "Because the last one you crashed turned out _so well_…"

"You're standing here, aren't you?" Nikita raised her head to look him dead in the eye, "I would call that a success."

"Kasim got away because of you!"

"And you're standing here in one piece_ because of me." _

Michael looked away at that, but didn't deny it. "You don't get to choose, Nikita. Who lives or who dies...it wasn't your decision to make."

"No, that's your job, isn't it?" she shot back, and Michael's gaze flashed back to her.

"You seem to be a little confused," he hissed through gritted teeth. "The_ target_ is the ambassador. Isn't this the part where you pull off some epic rescue mission that involves shooting me in the shoulder and jumping out the window?"

"Still a little _sore _about that?" Nikita asked innocently, gesturing at his shoulder. "No worries, Michael. I'm not here to shoot you this time." She turned her attention back to the ambassador, "I'm here to kill this waste of space. I've been trying to track him down for a long time." She aimed at the ambassador with deadly precision, "And now I've finally got him exactly where I want him."

The ambassador whimpered, "Please, what do you people want? Who are you! Is it money you want? I've got plenty of money—"

"Shut up," Thom snapped, looking unsure as he switched between aiming his gun at the ambassador and at Nikita. He looked over at Michael for instructions, "Sir?"

Michael closed his eyes, feeling a migraine coming on. He finally looked over at Alex, who still hadn't moved. He glanced her over, relieved that there were no visible bruise marks. "Alex, I need you to come over here and take Thom's gun." Alex stood up slowly, her gaze flitting uncertainly around the room. "Nikita won't hurt you," Michael said impatiently, misunderstanding her hesitation. "Trust me."

"That's where you're wrong," Nikita swung her gun over in Alex's direction, and Alex froze. "No one is getting in between me and the ambassador, got it?"

Michael inched his way closer, trying to position himself in front of Alex. But Nikita lashed out, forcing him backwards. She again pointed her gun at Alex callously, "Now, get out of the way before I _make _you get out of the way."

"Don't touch her," Thom snarled, glaring at Nikita. "I owe you," he reminded her, his voice steely, "Twice over."

"And by the end of today, I'm sure we'll be counting to three." Whatever retort she was going to follow with that statement was cut off when Michael lunged at her, slamming her against the wall. She gave a gasp of pain as she tried to fight him off, both of their guns dropping to the floor in the process.

Alex gaped at them, and moved back into her corner, her eyes wide. _So **this **was how two killers fought, _Alex mused thoughtfully. _It was almost like a dance...the way they moved, perfectly in sync with each other...anticipating each other's moves. __The dance of death..._

Suddenly, there was a loud thud, and Alex's eyes flashed back to the doorway. Her mouth opened in horror.

Thom lay on the floor, knocked out.

Behind him, was Nathalia.

"Thom!" Alex cried out, starting to move towards him. She stopped dead as Nathalia pointed a revolver at Thom. "One more step and he dies," she warned, with no trace of the Russian accent from before. She gestured for her husband to get up, and he gratefully made his way over to her. She kicked Thom's body behind her so that she was standing in front of both him and her husband, and then proceeded to glare at the remaining people in the room.

Nikita and Michael both looked stunned. Alex swallowed, looking up at Nathalia. "What happened to your accent?"

"What happened to being here as _security detail_?" she mimicked back, her voice dripping with disdain. Her gaze roamed over to Michael, who had been eyeing the two guns that lay discarded on the floor. "Kick the guns towards me," she ordered coldly, "Or the boy won't be the only one that dies." She swung her gun around to point at Alex instead, and Michael scowled as he slid the guns in Nathalia's direction.

"Who are you?" Nikita asked, sounding bored, "Someone with a death wish?"

"Hardly," Nathalia scoffed, "But I know who you all are. _Division."_

"Well, so much for a secret Black Ops program," Nikita said sarcastically as she threw Michael a pointed look.

"Don't look at me," he snapped, "_I _didn't organize this mission!"

"Yeah? So, who did?"

Michael's mouth fell into a grim line. _Percy._

Nathalia raised her hand to her ear, apparently speaking into an earpiece. "Yes, get me two guards to the master bedroom. We have four Division agents trapped."

"Actually—" Nikita started, but fell silent when Michael glared at her.

Within seconds, heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs, signaling the arrival of the guards. "Keep watch over the door," Nathalia instructed them as she locked it behind her. "I have to go talk to..." Try as Alex might, she couldn't hear the rest of the sentence as the door shut behind the ambassador, Nathalia, and Thom.

Michael stood up immediately and strode quickly over to the window. He peered down and swore, "There's a bunch of guards down there. We'd never make it out alive."

Nikita paced back and forth across the room, looking harassed. "Mind telling me how they knew we were Division? And how did you miss the fact that the wife was involved?"

"I don't know, okay?" he hissed back. He looked back over at Alex, and this time went over to her. "Hey," he said in a softer voice as he crouched down next to her. "Are you sure you're okay? He didn't...nothing happened, did it?"

Alex shook her head, "He tried...I was going to stab him with the potassium chloride but he somehow knew what I was going to do. I—I don't know what happened."

"It's okay," Michael slid a comforting arm around her, "It's not your fault." He looked up then and saw Nikita staring at him with a strange expression on her face. When he caught her eye, she suddenly gave him a bright smile. "What's with you?" he asked suspiciously as she knelt down on his other side.

"Come on, Michael," she said with a grin, "You know me best. Did you really think I waltzed into a mission with only one weapon on me?" He narrowed his eyes at her as she stretched her legs across his lap, and reached into her boot. Within seconds, she pulled out a knife.

_His _knife, to be more precise.

She held it up in front of him, "Guess you were right in Yemen."

He stared at her for a few seconds, "About what?"

She smirked, "About good luck charms."


	19. Escape

"Ramirez, report your position."

"All is quiet up here ma'am," Ramirez answered into his headset, "Do you want us to check on the prisoners?"

"No. They have no form of escape anyway," Nathalia answered dismissively. "I have positioned about ten members of our team in the yard, so they can't jump out the window without being shot immediately. It would be suicide."

"Copy that. They can only escape through this door," Ramirez glanced at his partner, who nodded to show that he understood.

"I've locked it from the outside, so no one can get in or out," Nathalia said briskly, "Don't leave your positions for _anything_. I'll be in touch."

"Understood." Ramierez waited till Nathalia had signed off before turning to look at his partner. "Yo, Slater, doesn't it seem too quiet in there?" He gestured towards the closed bedroom door. "What do you think they're doing in there?"

.

.

"Escaping through the window would be suicide," Nikita whispered. The three of them were huddled in the corner of the room so that their conversation wouldn't be overheard by the two guards standing outside the door. "Which means we have to somehow get through _that _door."

"It wouldn't be too hard to break it down, but..."

"But we don't want to draw attention to ourselves," Nikita finished, "Yeah, I know." She glanced at Alex, "Do you have anything small and sharp that we could use to pick the lock? Like a hairclip or something?"

Alex ran her fingers through her hair uselessly. She shook her head as she scoured the room, looking for something they could use. At that moment, her eye landed on the discarded syringe on the floor. "Got it," she breathed, hurrying over to pick it up. "See?" she held it up to Michael. "It's kinda bent from the fight, so it could fit through the keyhole." Nikita nodded and reached out to take it from her, but Alex shook her head. "No, I'll do it. But you two need to provide a distraction so they won't be able to hear what I'm doing."

Michael frowned as he exchanged a glance with Nikita, "What kind of distraction?"

Alex smiled to herself as she crawled over to the keyhole. "Just do what you two do best."

.

.

"Man," Slater leaned against the wall, "Can you _believe _that we actually have Division agents trapped?"

Ramirez shook his head good-naturedly, "That was almost too easy. I thought they were supposed to be like, I don't know...like the best or something."

Slater snorted, "Yeah, well. If the boss can catch 'em then apparently not."

_"YEAH, WELL EXCUSE ME FOR TRYING TO SAVE YOUR LIFE!"_

_"I DIDN'T ASK TO BE SAVED!" _

Ramirez and Slater exchanged a startled glance as they both turned towards the door to better hear the ensuing argument. "Man, what the hell is going on in there?" Slater asked wonderingly, "You'd think they were ready to rip each other's throats out..."

.

.

"How's it going?" Michael whispered into Alex's ear while Nikita entered into a monologue, gesturing wildly. "Because I think Nikita just _might _be enjoying herself a little too much..."

Alex bit her lip as she concentrated, her ear pressed against the door. All of a sudden, she heard the _click_! that she'd been waiting for. "Yes!" she breathed ecstatically, turning to Michael with a grin, "Done."

"I knew you could do it," he squeezed her shoulder as they both stood up. He nodded at Nikita, "Ready for this?"

"Do you even have to ask?" She reached for the doorknob, but paused and turned to Alex. "Here," she handed Alex the knife from her boot, "Just in case."

"But—"

"It's a good luck charm," Nikita interrupted, smiling slightly in Michael's direction, "Trust me." Alex slowly reached out to take it, and turned it over in her hands. The cold metal against her flushed palms was oddly soothing.

"Alright," Michael said tensely as he positioned himself next to the door, "Let's do this." In a single movement, Nikita reached out and swung open the door. The guards barely had time to register what was happening before Nikita and Michael leapt out into the hallway, poised to attack.

"What the—!" one of the guards gave a strangled yell that was abruptly cut off as Nikita punched him in the gut. He doubled over in pain just as Michael grabbed the other guard around the throat, aiming for his windpipe. Alex performed the same gut-wrenching kick that Nikita had used, and the guard keeled over. Nikita slowly released the guard she had been fighting and he fell out of her chokehold into an unconscious pile on the floor.

"Come on," Nikita whispered as she patted down both of the guards, looking for weapons. She scowled when she found they were carrying only one gun each. "What kind of guards are these?" she asked in disdain, "Only carrying a single gun? They were practically asking to be taken down!"

"Alright, hurry up," Michael said impatiently, "We need to get out of here."

She shot him an annoyed look as she handed him one of the guns. She slid the other one into her waistband, and hesitated as she looked at Alex. "I'll go first," Nikita cautioned, "You two can give me a 30 second lead, _then _follow, "Got it?" Michael nodded at her, and pulled Alex backwards as Nikita slowly crept down the stairs.

He waited until Nikita was out of hearing range before he thrust the gun at Alex. "Take this," he whispered, "I'll take the knife."

"What? No!" Alex protested, holding the knife out of his reach. "You're a better shot than me," she said quickly, "You should keep it."

"Alex. _Take it_," he commanded, "You'll be safer with a gun."

She stared up at him defiantly, "Yeah? What about you?"

He stepped closer, towering above her as his eyes bore into hers. "Don't worry about it. Come on, we should go."

Alex glared at him as he switched their weapons. "Fine, then I'm going first," she snapped, stepping onto the staircase before he could stop her. Her heart beat loudly in her chest as she padded silently down the stairs. Once she got to the bottom, she turned to see Michael on her heels. He placed a finger on his lips, signaling her to stay quiet. She nodded, and looked in both directions. Where had Nikita gone?

Holding her gun to her chest, she carefully began walking back towards the main room where the party had been held earlier. All was eerily quiet as she carefully pushed the door open, and looked around the deserted room. Michael stepped in after her, looking equally confused. "Where's Nikita? Where's everybody?"

"Must be outside," Michael jerked his head towards the door, "Come on, follow me."

"No, I'm going first," Alex said firmly, trying to push him aside.

"_Alex," _he caught her arm, a dangerous look in his eyes.

"Either that, or you take the gun," Alex hissed, trying to remove her arm from his grip. She met his gaze squarely, "No need to be the hero, Michael."

"Then stop trying to prove yourself," he snapped with equal fervor, "Follow me, _and that's an order."_ He made his way over to the door, gesturing for Alex to stay away from the windows. Once they reached the door, he took a deep breath and grasped Alex's hand briefly. "You were good at target practice, right?"

Before she could respond, he swung the door open and stepped outside.

And standing there, side by side, were Amanda and Percy.

"What—"

"There she is," Amanda said in a cold voice as Alex stepped out of the house, "That's the mole. Get her." Before anyone could react, two gunshot sounds were heard. Michael whirled around, just in time to catch Alex as she fell into his arms.

"My god—what—!"

"Don't worry, she was only shot with tranquilizer darts," Amanda responded calmly, "She will need to be taken back to Division to be cancelled, of course."

Michael looked up in fury, "What the _hell—"_

"Step aside, Michael," Percy said jovially, "We've got two for the price of one today."

Michael felt his heart sink, "What do you mean, sir?"

Percy moved out of the way and gestured to a body lying on the ground.

_Nikita. _


	20. All the Right Moves

**A/N: **thank you to everyone who's been reviewing, I appreciate it! and a special shoutout to AfraidToFall94—happy belated birthday :) Oh, and Happy New Year to everyone!

* * *

Alex didn't know at what point she had regained consciousness, but she didn't open her eyes. What was the point? She was probably being signed off for cancellation at this very moment. The thought made her heart ache with disappointment and regret. She wouldn't be able to avenge her family's death.

She had failed.

There was a quiet knock, but before Alex could react, she heard another voice respond to whoever was at the door. Keeping still, Alex strained to hear the conversation that followed.

"Is she awake yet?" Amanda asked, keeping her voice low. "The effects of the tranquilizers should have worn off by now."

"Not yet," Michael answered, his voice a mere mutter. "She hasn't shown any movement since we transported her to Medical. How are the others?"

"Thom is recovering in the room down the hall. He has a mild concussion, but there don't appear to be any other injuries. He'll be back out in the field in no time."

"Has he been debriefed? Do we know what happened? Why they took him?"

"I assume because they were trying to get information about Division," Amanda said dispassionately. "It was lucky that Percy arrived on the scene just as the ambassador and his wife were attempting to escape. With the on-site backup team, we were able to apprehend them immediately."

"Yeah," Michael cleared his throat, "About that...why exactly was Percy there?"

"You'll hear about it at the interrogation later," Amanda turned to leave, "I'm sure _you'll_ be there, won't you?"

There was no answer, and Alex heard high heels clicking away. Taking this as a sign that Amanda had left, she opened her eyes. Michael was still standing by the door, his arms crossed. "I assume you heard all that?"

Alex sat up in the bed, and drew her knees to her chest, "Maybe."

Michael looked out the door both ways before he shut it, and strode quickly over to Alex. "Listen to me," he whispered, "We don't have a lot of time, so I need you to pay attention. There are only two places in Division that aren't monitored by security cameras. One is the recruits' rooms—a place you're not likely to go anytime soon. The other is Medical. Therefore, this is the only place we can speak freely."

Alex looked up in alarm at Michael's tone, "Wait, what exactly are you—"

"I already know what evidence they have you," he spoke over her, not meeting her gaze. "Birkhoff is more loyal to me than he is to Percy, so I know. I need you to promise me that you'll go along with whatever story I come up with during the interrogation. Do you understand?"

"Story?" Alex shook her head, "Look, none of this has anything to do with you. I don't need you to—"

"Alex._ Do you understand_?"

She glared at him, "I won't let you do this."

"Yeah, well," Michael straightened and walked to the door, "You leave me no choice."

* * *

Several hours later, Alex found herself sitting in a dimly lit room at the end of a long table; Nikita sat at the other end. Amanda sat at precisely the midpoint of the table, with a clipboard and a voice recorder. There was an ominous looking cart behind her, which Alex suspected held the sorts of things that the "Inquisitor" was known and feared for.

Michael and Percy both stood in one corner of the room. In the opposite corner was Birkhoff, messing around with some sort of machine that Alex didn't recognize. There was also a flat screen TV in the center of the table, directly in front of Amanda. She was holding the remote in front of her, and tapping it impatiently. It appeared that everyone was waiting for Birkhoff to finish...whatever it was that he was doing.

"Okay, all set," he said finally, turning to look at Amanda with a nod, "You can cue the tape now."

Amanda turned the remote around in her hands, but didn't press anything. "Birkhoff, perhaps you should explain what happened while we were at the mission earlier today."

"Um," Birkhoff shot a look in Michael's direction, "Okay. Well, while you guys were gone, I was updating Division's firewalls and security measures. While I was doing that, I ran into a...well, a program that I had never installed myself."

"Go on."

"So, I called Percy to look it over with me. We discovered it was essentially a two-way chat program that could be used to connect with someone _out there_. Percy immediately knew that this was how Nikita was finding out all her information. There was a leak within our walls. A mole."

Michael made a move to say something, but Amanda held up a hand. "And how did you connect this program with Alex? I'm sure they were smart enough to not leave behind any incriminating evidence..."

"Percy and I reviewed the security footage of the computer room from the past several months. There was only one recruit who was always there after hours," Birhoff's voice trailed off, "Only one."

Nikita suddenly laughed, and it was the laugh of someone who had nothing to lose. "You _idiots_. You really think that I was using this _girl _to infiltrate Division?_" _she spat, "Pathetic."

"You deny it?" Amanda leaned forward interestedly. "Fine. Then Alex can explain what she was doing for _all _those extra hours in the computer room. And don't give us some excuse about 'working on an assignment.' We all know that's not true." She smiled coldly, "In fact, you're quite good at computers, aren't you?"

Alex gritted her teeth, "You don't know—"

"You're right," Michael spoke suddenly, walking forward. "Alex _was _working on an assignment. For me."

There was silence.

Alex felt like she couldn't breathe. She chanced a glance at Nikita, who was looking at Michael as though he had gone insane.

"Excuse me?" Percy asked incredulously, "An assignment _for you_? What is this, Michael?"

Michael straightened his tie, his face expressionless. "I discovered the shell program several months ago. Shortly after Alex arrived at Division, actually. I knew that Nikita had installed it, but I had no idea who she was using it to communicate with. Therefore, I decided to entrust Alex with the task of acting as the mole. There was no way that Nikita could know _who _she was talking to. As long as Alex didn't divulge too much information from our side, then we would finally be two steps ahead of Nikita."

"Go to hell," Nikita suddenly hissed, her hands fisting around the edges of the table. "You were feeding me wrong information for _months_?"

Michael stared back at her coldly. "The point wasn't to GIVE you the right information, Nikita..It was to find out how exactly you were planning on extracting your revenge on Division!"

Nikita flipped over her chair so quickly, that Alex didn't even see what had happened. In a flash, Michael had Nikita pinned to the wall, his hands around her throat. "You think I _forgot_?" he shouted, "Did you think I could ever _forget _that you betrayed me! You betrayed everything we—that **I**—taught you!" He slammed her against the wall again, and Alex winced when she heard a bone crack. "And _then, _as if that wasn't ENOUGH, you went and ruined ANY CHANCE I had at finally killing Kasim!"

"Michael, calm yourself!" Percy shouted, grabbing Michael by both arms and attempting to pull him backwards. Birkhoff hurried forward to stop Nikita from retaliation, and he shoved her into her chair again. "Calm down!" Percy roared again, slamming Michael into the opposite wall. "What the hell has gotten into you? If you don't stop this right _now_, then I will have you removed from this interrogation!"

Michael took a deep breath, and knelt over a spare chair next to Alex. She stared up at him with wide eyes, but he didn't look at her. "I apologize," he said stiffly, "For losing my temper."

"Hold on just a minute," Amanda said, standing up in anger. "Are you telling me that you have known all this time that there was a breach in Division security, and you said _nothing_?"

"I told you," Michael responded tightly, "I needed to find out what Nikita's plan was."

"And what about all the missions that she ruined?" Amanda snapped furiously, "You _told _her—"

"No," Alex intervened, and she felt Michael tense next to her. "We never told Nikita anything. She must have gotten her information from somebody else. All we ever tried to do was figure out what _she _was planning."

"Oh really?" Amanda said disbelievingly, "And who might this other person be? Nikita, do you have anything to say?"

Nikita glared at them through hooded eyes. "Other _person_?" she scoffed, "I get my information from _everywhere_, Amanda. Everywhere."

Alex cleared her throat, "Actually, I may have an idea of who the mole is." Both Nikita and Michael sent her a warning look, but she ignored them. She turned to Amanda and said carefully, "Whenever I had to sneak into the computer room after hours, there was always another recruit I saw sneaking around in the halls." She took a deep breath, "I didn't want to say anything because, well, I figured it was none of my business. Besides she already hated me enough..."

"Hated you?" Amanda narrowed her eyes, "You mean Jaden? You think she's the mole?"

Alex closed her eyes briefly, hating herself. "Yes," she said finally, "I have proof."


	21. Decisions

**A/N: **just a heads up- 2 chapters left in this story!

* * *

Michael sat stiffly in the seat recently vacated by Amanda. He sat still, his gaze focusing on the wall in front of him. He ignored both Alex and Nikita, both of whom he could feel staring at him in various degrees of disbelief.

"Yo, Michael…" Birkhoff started, his fingers flying over the laptop in front of him. He pressed a couple more buttons, and Michael heard two significant beeps. "No audio…_and _no visual." Birkhoff sat back in his seat with a grin, "Am I good or am I good?"

Michael went over and waved a hand in front of the security camera, "You sure? They can't see anything?"

"_Nada_," Birkhoff stood up, glancing nervously around the room. "How about I go stand outside and let you guys…talk?" He paused at the door and turned back, "Hey, Niki…you're looking good. You know, for a criminal and all."

Nikita merely rolled her eyes, and Birkhoff took one more look at Michael's expression before quickly shutting the door behind him.

Then there was silence.

"You trust him?" Nikita asked finally, gesturing to the supposedly disabled security camera.

"He's loyal," Michael answered, his gaze flicking towards the door. He could see Birkhoff pacing back and forth outside, waiting for Amanda and Percy to return. "Okay, we don't have a lot of time." He turned to look at Alex, "How long do you think it will take them to search Jaden's room?"

"I'm sure Jaden hid the memory card really well," Alex shifted uncomfortably, "So, like 20 minutes?"

"It's Amanda. Give it 10," Nikita cut in, her eyes flashing with anger. "Michael, what are you doing?"

Michael took a deep breath, "You told me a long time ago that the reason I stayed at Division was to protect my recruits. That's what I'm doing."

Alex looked down at the ground, "Michael, you shouldn't…I mean, I'm not—"

He held up a hand, "I don't want to know."

"But—"

"No," he said sharply, "I told you before that I didn't care what your secret was. I still don't." He softened his tone, "I'm still Division, Alex. I _can't _know these things."

"Are you?" Nikita met his gaze, and Michael had an eerie feeling that she could see right through him. "You can't play both sides, Michael. You can't be both."

He closed his eyes briefly, "Nikita…you know I have to stay Division. You know why."

She stood up, a sad smile playing at her lips. "I know," she agreed, "So what now?"

"Now?" Michael halfheartedly smirked at her, and reached into his jacket. He pulled out his knife and tossed it to Nikita.

She caught it on the edges of her fingertips, looking surprised. "You're giving me a weapon?"

"_No, you already had it_," Michael said, crossing his arms. "And you attacked us as you made your escape."

Nikita grinned and tossed her hair behind her shoulder as she crouched into a fighting stance. "You know I'll have to make it look real." Without further ado, she suddenly kicked out at Michael and he stumbled backwards into the wall. As he scrambled to get up, Nikita launched herself at Alex.

"What are you doing?" Alex hissed as Nikita knocked her chair over and they both hit the floor. "I'm sorry, Alex," Nikita whispered, grabbing the knife and loosely slicing the skin across Alex's throat. She gasped in pain, her eyes widening with shock. "It's just a flesh wound, you'll be fine," Nikita said hurriedly as she began to get up, but Alex reached out and grabbed her arm. "No," Nikita said quietly, "You have to stay, Alex. Michael is giving you a chance. Take it." With those words, she grabbed Alex's head and rammed into the table leg.

Alex fell unconscious immediately, and Nikita whirled around as Michael suddenly grabbed both her shoulders and slammed her into the wall. She gasped out as her head connected with the concrete, and she raised her eyebrows at him. "Gotta make it look real," he breathed into her ear before tossing her onto the floor.

She kicked his knees out as she fell so that he landed on top of her. She grinned, "Just like old times, huh?" Before he could respond, she grabbed his collar and pulled him closer. "I'll be fine," she whispered, "Just take care of Alex." She glanced at him, and he nodded to show that he understood. "Oh," she added as an afterthought, "And I'm sorry."

He frowned, "For what?"

She smiled apologetically, "For _this_." And she swung her knife forward, burying it deep into his shoulder blade. He shouted in pain, and rolled off her. Nikita leapt up, running towards the door. "I'm sorry Michael, it had to look real!" He merely glared at her, clutching his shoulder as the blood began to seep through his fingers. She paused at the door, turning to look at him. "I guess you'll want this back?" she asked, holding the knife out towards him.

He clenched his teeth against the pain. "Keep it," he muttered, "It's good luck. For you, anyway."

Nikita nodded at him, and flashed him one last smile before mouthing the words '_Thank you.'_

Michael groaned as he crawled across the room to get to Alex. In the background, he heard Birkhoff shouting as Nikita took him down. "Michael?" Alex murmured, her eyelids fluttering open when grasped her wrist to feel her pulse. She turned to look at him, her eyes widening, "You're bleeding..."

"Courtesy of Nikita," Michael winced as he shifted his arm. He laid down beside Alex, and felt her move her wrist so that their fingers were entwined.

"Will she be okay?" Alex asked, closing her eyes as the throbbing in her head grew exponentially. She gritted her teeth; did Nikita really have to make it look _that _real?

Michael laughed lightly, his vision beginning to cloud from the blood loss. "Nikita will escape," he whispered back to Alex, a small smile of pride at his lips. "She always does."


	22. Poison Ties

It had been a week, and Alex was still receiving suspicious glares from both Amanda and Percy everywhere she went.

She stared into the mirror in her room, her fingers mindlessly tracing the faint scar across her neck from where Nikita had sliced her throat open. The scar wouldn't last; in fact, it was already fading. Nikita had been right on that count—just a flesh wound.

The bump on her head, on the other hand, was taking a lot longer to heal than she had thought it would. She gingerly touched the sore spot, and gritted her teeth at the flash of pain. The doctor in Medical had assured her that she didn't have a concussion, but the area was still sensitive, even after a week.

To top it all off, Percy had made sure that the chat program had been removed from the computers, so Alex had no way of knowing what Nikita was up to. She didn't dare ask Michael about it. From what he had told her about security cameras, it would appear that his office was bugged.

Probably the only office that wasn't…was Percy's. Alex didn't know how she would get in there, though. Her thumbprint of Birkhoff's was missing, and she had a strong suspicion that Jaden had stolen it.

Speaking of Jaden, the girl had completely disappeared. There was no mention of her from either Percy or Amanda, and Alex was led to believe that Jaden had been _dealt with_. Alex felt a stab of guilt—the same stab she felt every time she thought of her sometimes-enemy. Wrong place, wrong time. But she hadn't deserved what she got. Alex knew that.

She also knew that Nikita would be proud that Alex felt guilty. _Your humanity_. _Division will try to take that from you. You can't let them._

Alex sighed and glanced at the schedule…recruit exercises. Damn. She quickly pulled on a hoodie and jogged down into the training room. When she got there, she was surprised to see all the recruits standing in a semi-circle around something. She stealthily hurried in, the door unfortunately squeaking loudly behind her.

"Glad you could join us, Alex," Amanda called, and Alex pursed her lips.

"Sorry," she muttered, "I lost track of time."

"Yes, well. We can't always be waiting on you, can we?"

Alex crossed her arms, noticing a cage on the ground. "What's that?"

"So glad you asked," Amanda smiled, and knelt down. "Meet Ariadne."

Alex frowned and crouched. She nearly lost her balance when a hissing tongue shot out towards her from the cage. "Is that a snake?"

"Yes," Amanda said calmly, "She's extremely poisonous." As she spoke, a door opened above them. Alex looked up to see Michael enter the room, closely flanked by Birkhoff. Both of them met Alex's gaze; Birkhoff quickly looked away, but Michael nodded curtly at her.

"Ah, Michael," Amanda said as she turned to face them. "I was just introducing Ariadne to our recruits."

"I can see that," Michael consulted a clipboard in his hands, "But I'm pretty sure Birkhoff and I had this time scheduled for—"

"You must be mistaken."

Michael crossed his arms, "Birkhoff has just finished installing the new firewall measures. The recruits need to—"

"I don't think you understood me," Amanda interrupted, "This time has been especially reserved _for me_."

There was silence.

"Fine," Michael gestured, "By all means, continue."

Amanda stared at him expressionlessly before turning back to face the recruits. "Poison," she began, "It can seep through every corner, no matter how carefully you try to hide it." She glanced at Alex before continuing, "I'm sure you're all wondering by now what happened to your fellow recruit, Jaden."

Michael made a sudden movement, but when Alex looked at him, he was standing stoically still once more.

"Jaden was poison," Amanda proclaimed loudly, "She was a spy, working with Nikita."

The silence was broken by whispers, which Amanda ignored.

"This snake, while poison itself, can recognize _other _poisonous elements," she went on, and she reached down to unhook the cage. "I want each of you to hold Ariadne in your arms. _Feel _what it's like, and _look _evil in the face..."

Alex stopped paying attention. This was ridiculous. Amanda was crazy, and so was Division. At that moment, she suddenly realized that Amanda had stopped speaking, and she looked up to find everyone staring at her. "Um, what?"

"Hold the snake, Alex," Amanda held the creature out to her, a twisted smile on her lips.

"Ah...I'm not really an animal person..." Alex shifted uncomfortably as Amanda's expression didn't change.

"Take it."

Michael took half a step forward, his eyes narrowing at Amanda. Alex took a deep breath, and slowly reached out for the snake. "Alex!" a loud voice suddenly called, and she jumped. She looked up to see Percy standing at the top of the staircase, looking impatient. "Get up here. You too Michael. Amanda."

Amanda looked slightly annoyed, but she put the snake back into the cage and made her way towards Percy. Michael gestured for Alex to go in front of him, placing a hand on the small of her back as they walked together. "Any idea what this is about?" she murmured, being careful not to make eye contact.

"A few," Michael muttered back, "I just hope I'm wrong."

.

.

"You're _sure_?" Michael stressed, his fist grasping the folder in his hand tightly, "This seems out of character for Kasim."

"Don't ask me to fathom the mind of a terrorist," Percy replied, handing Alex another folder. "But we have solid evidence that he'll be making an appearance at next week's Peace Conference."

"Um," Alex cleared her throat, "Why exactly are you telling me all this?"

Percy stared at her, "Because we're sending you with Michael, of course."

"But..." Alex trailed off, "Isn't this usually like a secret mission? I mean, I'm not..."

"This will serve as your graduation requirement," Amanda put in, "Since the last mission went horribly off plan."

"I have to take the shot," Michael said suddenly, "There's no need for Alex to be there."

"Last time you had Nikita helping you," Percy reminded him, "Since she's dead, we figured that we'd send Alex in with you."

"You have no proof that Nikita is dead."

"She hasn't so much as made a peep in an entire week," Percy grinned, "I'm pretty sure she's dead."

.

.

Alex was sitting in her room that night, contemplating Percy's words. She refused to believe that Nikita was dead. If she hadn't been found, then that meant that she had successfully escaped, right?

There was a knock at her door, and she turned around to see Michael standing at the doorway, his hands in his pockets. "Hey...what are you doing here?" He shut the door carefully and took a deep breath, but then he didn't say anything. "Why don't you want me to go on the mission?" Alex blurted out suddenly, asking the one question that had been nagging her all day. "Don't you think I can handle it?"

Michael stared back at her, an unidentifiable emotion flashing across his face. "It's not the same, Alex," he said finally. "Being by yourself, overseas, with no immediate backup. It can be...intense."

"I know," she bit her lip, "That's why I'm going with you."

"Alex..."

"Please," she stood up and walked slowly up to him. He didn't back away as she neared, and simply stared down at her. "Let me do this," she whispered, "Let me prove to them that I can do something right."

"You have nothing to prove."

"Yes, I do. You know I do," Alex insisted, staring up at him beseechingly.

He sighed, closing his eyes briefly. "Fine. We leave tomorrow morning at dawn."

"Yes!" Alex spontaneously threw her arms around his neck, ignoring his startled sharp intake of breath. "You won't regret it," she promised confidently as she let go of him.

Michael nodded slowly, his lips curving upwards in a brief smile. "I know I won't," he agreed. Watching her carefully, he gently placed a kiss on her forehead. "See you in the morning, partner."

Alex smiled to herself as he closed the door behind him.


	23. One Too Many

**A/N: **to answer everyone's questions, NEXT chapter will be the last one :) i'm planning an epic ending so be excited ;)

* * *

Michael sat on the edge of his bed in the hotel room, his head in his hands. The truth was, he had no idea how he was going to do this. Although he hadn't let on to Alex, he was more than a little suspicious of this mission.

Why would Kasim bother showing his face at a Peace Conference in Russia? Why would Percy send Alex, still a recruit, along on this mission? And thirdly, why had Percy sent—

"Yo, did you check out this minibar?" Birkhoff asked excitedly as he barged into Michael's room. He held out fistfuls of Twizzlers, "This is the life, man."

"Birkhoff, I did not give you permission to…oh, forget it," Michael muttered under his breath. "Did you hack into any of the security feeds for tomorrow's events?"

"Working on it," Bikhoff answered promptly. "A bunch of people from the conference are staying at this hotel, though. Do you want to see who?"

"No, because Kasim isn't one of them. Just be sure you make the security feeds for the hotel inaccessible to the outside. We don't need Kasim finding out I'm here before we find him."

"Yeah, I was in the middle of doing that, but then the feeds cut off themselves," Birkhoff shrugged as he walked out the door, "I guess luck is on our side."

Michael nodded absentmindedly, and reopened the folder that Percy had given him. Sure enough, there was a photo of Kasim boarding a plane to Russia. It seemed almost too good to be true, too lucky. He frowned to himself, what had Birkhoff said? _Luck was on their side? _

Faster than the eye could blink, Michael suddenly leapt out of the way. A knife whizzed by him, missing him by a mere two inches. It embedded itself into the headboard of the bed, and Michael stared at the person who walked into his room in disbelief. "You could have killed me!"

"I knew you could handle it," Nikita smiled back at him innocently as she strode across the room to get the knife back. "I see you didn't pull a gun on me this time. Should I take that as a good sign?"

Michael seriously considered getting his gun at that point, just to prove her wrong. Instead, he settled for staring her down. "So, you're _following _me now?"

"Don't flatter yourself, Michael. Us being in Russia has nothing to do with you."

"Us?"

Nikita hesitated, "Owen and myself. He found out that one of the Black Boxes is being kept here. By someone in this hotel, to be precise." She smiled at him and tilted her head, "You being here is just an added bonus."

"_Owen_?" Michael raised an eyebrow, "That's...interesting."

"Why? Because he's on the run from Division?"

"No...because you don't usually play nice with others," Michael grinned at her offended expression. "What? You know it's true..."

"Hey, I'm the one that's making this mission a four-man OP," she said defensively, crossing her arms.

"You mean _five_," Michael corrected. "I mean, I know Birkhoff doesn't do much, but—"

"I did include him," Nikita interrupted, "You, me, Owen, and Birkhoff."

"And Alex," he pointed out.

"Oh...I didn't know she was here," Nikita frowned, looking confused. "Is she staying at a different hotel?"

"No, she's right next door..." Michael said slowly, "Why?"

"She didn't show up on the monitors when Owen and I were taking down the security feeds." Nikita grabbed a gun and tossed it to Michael before pulling out her own, "Should we check on her?"

Michael nodded and they cautiously walked into the hallway. He put his ear to Alex's door, but there were no sounds coming from it. "Alex?" he called loudly, knocking on the door, "Are you in there? Alex?"

No response.

"What's all the racket?" Birkhoff complained, coming out into the hallway. He stopped short in awe, "_Nikita? _Man, they weren't lying about your nine thousand lives! How the hell did you get here?"

"A plane, Birkhoff," Nikita answered pleasantly, "What about you?"

He gaped at her, "They let you through security? Percy's got everyone looking for you..."

She smirked at him, "I meant Owen's plane."

Michael stopped pounding on the door long enough to throw her an incredulous look, "The guy has a _plane_?"

"I do," a different voice answered, and everyone turned around to see Owen himself walking towards them, "Let me know if you want to borrow it sometime."

Nikita glared at him, her voice raised in exasperation. "I told you to stay in the car!"

"Yeah," he drawled out, "See, the thing is, I'm not really a stay-in-the-car kind of guy so..."

"Shut up."

Owen grinned and held his hand out to Michael, "Division, I presume?"

Michael only shot Nikita an irritated look before turning his attention back to Alex's door. "Hey," Niktia caught his arm as he raised it to knock again. "I have a better idea." Without further ado, she got on her knees and slid a card out of her purse. In moments, they all heard a satisfying _click_.

"You are _eerily_ good at that," Owen commented. Brushing by Michael, he pushed the door open and peered inside. "Hello? Is anyone here?" He turned to look at Nikita, "Who are we looking for again?"

"Christ," Michael muttered under his breath. He hurried into the room and flipped on the light switch. His gaze flicked around the room in concern when he noticed Alex was definitely not there.

"Look at this," Nikita remarked, crouching on the floor near the door. She pointed, "See how there's scuff marks?"

"Signs of a struggle," Owen noted, looking around the room for more clues. "Michael, aren't you in the next room over? And you didn't hear anything?"

Michael narrowed his eyes at him but didn't respond. "Birkhoff, pull the security feeds back up. We need to see what happened..." He broke off when he saw Owen shaking his head at him, "_What_?"

"I don't think so," Owen said vehemently. "I need to destroy this black box, and I can't have freakin' security breathing down our backs—"

"Yeah, well I didn't ask for your opinion," Michael snapped, "My recruit is missing and I intend to find her, with or _without _your help!" He strode out of the room angrily, but paused on the threshold when he saw that his door was ajar. He could've sworn that Nikita had shut it when they left...

He gestured to her silently, and she immediately hurried to his side, raising her eyebrows questioningly. He pointed at his door, and she nodded to show that she had gotten the message. "Stay here," she mouthed to Owen, and then she followed Michael quietly into the hallway.

Michael held his gun to his chest, and crept closer to his door. He felt Nikita at his shoulder, and she breathed into his ear, "Look at the lighting."

He focused on the sliver of light coming through the doorway, and frowned when he saw a shadow flit across it. Someone was definitely in there. With a leap, he swiftly kicked the door open and drew his gun in one move. Behind him, Nikita did the same.

They both froze when they saw the woman standing there. "_You_!" Michael exclaimed, "But...you're dead!"

Nathalia laughed, "That's what you—" Suddenly there was a gunshot and her eyes bulged open in surprise as she looked down at the blood seeping out of her dress. Michael stared in shock as she took a halting step towards him before collapsing onto the ground.

He turned to look at Nikita furiously, "You killed her? But she was going to talk!"

"No, that was me," Owen said easily as he walked into the room. "She's the one who's guarding the black box."


	24. Finale

"Great," Michael crossed his arms, "Now we have a dead body on our hands."

"I'll take care of it," Owen said dismissively, "Besides, what's a dead body to you? Just one of many, I'm sure."

Before Michael could retaliate, Nikita touched his arm in a calming gesture. "Listen, I thought you said Division killed Nathalia and her husband?"

"Well, I thought they did."

Owen scoffed, "Um, hello...Nathalia was keeping the black box safe! There's no way in hell Division would get rid of either her _or _her husband."

"Her husband," Nikita murmured, "The ambassador. They were a team, weren't they? Which means that he would be in this hotel, too…" She knelt down and patted down Nathalia's pockets until she found her room key. "Room 212…think the ambassador would know where Alex is?"

Michael was already running out the door. He leapt down the stairs, ignoring Nikita and Owen who were both chasing after him. As soon as he flung the staircase door open for the second floor, he heard a gunshot. He froze momentarily, coming to life only when Nikita grabbed his arm and continued running towards down the hallway. They both kicked 212's door open at the same time, and Michael looked wildly around the room.

The first thing he saw was a dead body on the ground.

The second thing he noticed was that the body belonged to the ambassador.

Michael immediately looked up to see Alex, holding a gun straight at the ambassador's corpse. Her eyes were wide, her face pale, her arms shaking. But her voice was strong when she spoke flatly, "He's dead."

"Alex," Nikita immediately hurried over to her and took the gun out of her hands. Michael watched as Nikita murmured soothing words as she led Alex to a chair in the corner of the room.

"What the hell happened?" Michael asked, his eyes probing Alex. "Did he come to your room? Why didn't you call for help?"

Alex shook her head slowly. "I went downstairs to get ice and…" she rubbed her neck subconsciously, "I don't know what happened."

Nikita frowned, leaning forward to examine Alex's neck. "A puncture mark," she informed Michael, "The ambassador must have injected you with something to make you unconscious so he could bring you to his room. What did he want? How did you get that gun?"

"It's his gun," Alex said haltingly, "I…we fought—and I gained the upper hand, so I…grabbed his gun. Then I…shot him."

"It's okay," Nikita said softly, "You did good. Gold star."

Michael raised his eyebrows at her choice in words, and knelt before Alex. He took one of her hands within his own and stroked it gently, "You did a good thing, Alex. These people were dangerous, and they needed to be stopped."

"I thought Division stopped them," Alex bit out, her eyes suspicious. "Isn't that what you said?"

"Aha!" Owen grinned as he opened the ambassador's briefcase and pulled out a sleek, black box. "I knew I'd be able to find it eventually."

Michael took half a step towards him, but Nikita beat him to it. She grabbed the box and promptly smashed it on the floor, crushing it with her heel for good measure. Michael stared at her in disbelief, but she only shrugged. "What did you think was going to happen?"

"There you guys are!" Birkhoff wheezed as he ran into the room. His eyes widened when he caught sight of the ambassador's dead body on the floor. "Whoa, what happened here?"

"Alex graduated to field agent," Michael said when no one spoke, and Alex exchanged a quick look with Nikita. "Now, Owen, you said you'd be able to get rid of the bodies?"

Owen nodded, "Yeah, don't worry about it. We'll take care of the bodies and get out of here by tonight—"

"No," Nikita interrupted, "We're staying."

"Excuse me?"

"We have to stay," Nikita repeated firmly, her hands on her hips as she faced Owen. "Just until tomorrow."

"What for?"

Michael caught the glance she sent in his direction and he frowned, "Nikita, I didn't ask for your help."

She smiled slightly in acknowledgement, "That's why I'm staying."

.

.

"So," Alex surveyed the grand hall, "This is what a peace conference looks like." Her gaze flicked across the room, "A lot of suits and their pretty wives."

Michael hid a grin as he handed Alex a drink. "Actually, no. The actual conference isn't _quite _as interesting as this. The dinner party gives us a chance to meet some of the other delegates...and what are most likely their pretty mistresses."

Alex smiled back at him, but he noticed the smile didn't reach her eyes. "I'm fine," she said before he got a chance to ask, "Really."

Michael studied her carefully before lowering his voice, "The ambassador and his wife needed to be dealt with, Alex. I don't know how they got to Russia, or how they knew we were here, but..."

She looked at him incredulously, "You can't be serious...Obviously they're here because Percy sent them _here_!"

"It doesn't make sense," Michael frowned as he looked across the hall. His gaze landed on Nikita and Owen, who were dancing on the other side of the room. He didn't know whose identities they had stolen for the evening, but he was impressed.

"What about it doesn't make sense?" Alex snapped, "Amanda set me up to fail that last mission, and now she's..."

"It's not like that," Michael said sharply. He looked away, "It can't be like that."

Alex fell silent, examining his expression. "Come on," she held her hand out to him with a small smile, "Dance with me?"

He raised an eyebrow questioningly, but she didn't say anything else. "Sure," he placed a hand on her back as he led her through the crowd of dancing couples. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he moved them in a circle, his eyes open for any appearance of Kasim. "Did I mention you look absolutely _exquisite_ tonight?"

"Thank you," Alex smiled slightly as she looked down at her shimmering, gold dress. They danced in silence for a while before Alex admitted quietly, "I feel different now. After last night..."

"Everyone feels different after their first kill," Michael murmured, "Don't worry, you get used to it."

Alex frowned at his words and bit back her initial response. _I don't want to get used to it. _

Suddenly, Michael's earpiece crackled and he raised a hand to his ear. "Nikita?" He looked towards the corner he had last seen Owen and Nikita dancing, but they were no longer there. "Dammit," he muttered, "_Nikita_? Where are you?"

Alex frowned, "What's going on? What happened?"

He looked tense, "I don't know." He switched channels, "Birkhoff? Can you hear me?"

"Michael," Birkhoff's voice sounded strained, "I've lost visual on the hotel. Something's interfering with my firewall..."

"More like _someone_," Michael snapped, "Work around them! I need to go find Nikita...I lost communication with her—" He began walking back towards the drinks table, dragging Alex with him. "Listen to me. I want you to stay _here_," he commanded, "You'll be safe."

"Wait, I'll come with you!" Alex protested, but Michael was already backing away. He shook his head at her once and disappeared into the crowd.

Alex scowled as she stared after him; she really wasn't one to wait on the sidelines. She had just made up her mind to follow him anyway, when she felt something cold press against her back. Sucking in a startled gasp, Alex turned her head slightly to the left.

A waiter stood behind her, holding a platter high above her head in one hand. His other hand, no doubt, held the gun against her skin. "Keep smiling," he instructed in a low voice, "And start walking. Make any sudden movements, and you'll get a bullet through your spine. Got it?"

"Who are you?" Alex hissed, but he only jabbed the gun harder. "Alright, alright, I'm going," she muttered. She began walking forward as he pushed her in a straight path across the the hall. No one spared them a second glance, and Alex swallowed nervously when he led them into the kitchens.

Here, it was a different story. All the staff openly leered at her as the waiter made them keep walking towards the door on the other side. Alex stopped, knowing there was no hope if they ended up outside the hotel. "Where are we going?"

"Ask one more question and I'll blow your pretty little head off," he growled, "_Keep walking_."

One of the other waiters suddenly stepped in their path, and Alex looked up at him hopefully. Unfortunately, he didn't seem interested in saving her. Instead, he grabbed her chin roughly and forced her head to the side. "She's wearing an earpiece, you idiot! How could you have missed that?"

Alex gasped as he wrenched the piece out of her ear and tossed into the sink, while the waiter behind her stammered his apologies. "I'm sorry, sir. I d-didn't expect..."

"Of course you didn't," he sneered, "Just take her through the back door and hope she didn't have time to alert anyone, you fool."

"Yes sir," the waiter responded quickly and gave Alex a shove. She winced as he pushed her out the door into the cool night air. Alex didn't recognize where she was, but assumed he had brought her out to the alley behind the hotel.

It was completely deserted.

"What now?" Alex asked, keeping still. "Are you going to tell me who you are?"

The waiter didn't respond, but suddenly she heard footsteps coming towards them. She looked towards the right and saw a man walking in their direction. She squinted, but his face remained in the shadows. "Good job," he spoke in an accented voice. "Were you followed?"

"No. She was alone."

The man nodded and walked closer. The shadows shifted and Alex's eyes widened. She might not have ever met him before, but she had memorized his picture.

Kasim.

"I see by your expression that you know who I am," Kasim greeted her, keeping his voice pleasant. "Well, you should be happy to know that I know who you are too, Alex."

She took in a shaky breath, "How do you know my name?"

"I was told what to expect when I was sent here," Kasim replied carelessly, "You are here with two others from Division, yes?"

"What do you mean you were _sent _here?" Alex asked, deflecting his question. "You're here for the Peace Conference?"

"No, I'm here to kill Michael," he corrected, staring unsmilingly at her. "And anyone he cares about, of course."

Alex frowned, "Michael is here to kill you, not the other way around—"

"Shut up," Kasim snapped, suddenly pulling a knife out of his pocket. "He escaped me twice. I will _not_ let him go a third time!"

Alex twisted her arms desperately, but the waiter behind her had a strong grip. She wondered what the chances of her taking down both the waiter and Kasim were, but he was already shaking his head at her. "Don't try anything stupid, Alex. You think your government is going to save you? This _Division_ as you call it?"

She stopped struggling, "What do you know about Division?"

Kasim grinned, fingering the blade against his palm. "Only that they're the ones that sent me here. A certain Percy seems to think that you and Michael have become a _liability_..."

"No," Alex whispered.

"Why else would I be here?" he laughed, "At a _peace conference_? Seems a little out of character, don't you think?"

Alex's heart sank as she realized he was telling the truth. After all, he had no reason to lie. At that moment, Kasim's phone rang and he said a few words into it in his own language. He glanced at Alex then and switched back to English, "Go ahead. I'll put it on speakerphone." He held the phone towards Alex and nodded, "Say something."

"H-hello?"

"Alex!" Nikita sounded frantic, "They got you? And Michael?"

"I don't know where Michael is," Alex answered carefully, noticing Kasim hanging onto her every word. "He said he was trying to find you." She waited for a response, but only static silence met her ears. "Nikita?"

Suddenly there was a gigantic _boom_ and the hotel behind them seemed to explode from the inside. "No!" Alex shouted, "NIKITA!"

"She's dead," Kasim said calmly, raising his eyes to see the flames licking out of the windows on the top floor. "So is anyone who was with her."

Alex could hear screams coming from the ground floor where the dinner party had been held as everyone evacuated the building through the other side. No one was going to come through the back. She felt tears fill her eyes. _It was all over._

Faces flashed across her mind's eye. Her parents, Thom, Nikita...Michael. Adrenaline rushed through her veins and her face set. If she was going to die, then she sure as hell was going to go down fighting.

While Kasim was distracted with looking up at his handiwork, Alex gritted her teeth and painstakingly twisted her arm out of the waiter's grip. She screamed as she felt her arm break, but she didn't let it slow her down. She kicked out at the gun, causing the waiter to drop it. As he leapt towards it, she rushed at him and swung his body around to act as a shield.

Just as she had predicted, Kasim fired his own gun at that very moment. The waiter's mouth opened in shock as he fell to the ground, dead.

Alex leapt out of the way and towards the fallen gun, shrieking in pain when she landed on her broken arm. She scrambled with her good hand to grab the gun and finally grasped it. Alex looked up, breathing hard. Kasim towered above her, hatred etched on his face.

His arm was steady as he pointed the gun straight at her heart. "You're just a girl," he spoke quietly, "Maybe in the next life, you won't get mixed up in a bunch of traitors like your Division."

He was so busy staring at her, that he didn't notice the little red dotted light on his chest. Alex let out the breath she'd been holding, "I'll keep that in mind."

Kasim opened his mouth to say something else, but he never got a chance. The first bullet hit his hand, causing him to drop the gun.

The second bullet entered his heart.

Alex watched as he fell at her feet, his eyes still open, a look of disbelief masking his features. Slowly, she raised her eyes to the figure standing on the roof of the still-standing hotel.

Michael.

He was the last thing she saw before she lost consciousness.

.

.

Sometime later, Alex was woken up by feeling of her eardrums popping. She blinked several times, realizing almost immediately that she must be on an airplane. She tried to sit up, but a hand appeared at her shoulder to push her back down. "Not so fast," Michael cautioned her, "Nikita has pumped you full of drugs. You might feel a little out of it..."

"I'm fine," Alex said slowly, looking around the cabin. "Where...what happened?"

"We're on Owen's plane," Michael took a seat on the edge of her bed and faced her with a smirk, "Did you know that guy was a pilot? Nikita is sitting up there with him. I can go get her if you want—"

"Wait," Alex reached out and grabbed his wrist with her good arm, "They're alive?"

"Nine thousand lives," a voice reminded her, and Alex peered around Michael to see Birkhoff sitting in the corner. "She and Owen got out of there before the detonator went off," Birkhoff continued, sounding nothing short of admiring. "They realized what had happened with you and Kasim, and they got to you just as you passed out from the pain." He nodded at her arm, "Niki patched you up. You should be good until we land."

"Land?" Alex asked, her voice rising with panic, "land where?"

Birkhoff coughed, "I'll just...leave you two to talk." He quickly exited the cabin, leaving Michael and Alex alone.

"You didn't hear what Kasim said to me before he died," Alex said hurriedly, "He said Division _sent _him to get rid of us...th-that we were a liability!"

"I know," Michael met her gaze steadily, "I had the alleyway bugged. I heard the whole thing."

"And you're _still _going back to Division?" Alex asked furiously, sitting up to glare at Michael. "They'll only try to kill us again!"

"Division has no idea what happened here tonight," Michael replied carefully, "All of Kasim's men are dead, so they have no one to report back to them." He took a deep breath, "With Kasim's death, I have no reason to return to Division...except for the fact that if we're gone, then Nikita has no one to help her from the inside."

Alex blinked again, her mind struggling to process what he was saying. "You want to...help us? Bring down Division?"

"No," he corrected, "Bring down Percy. He's the root of the problem, not Division."

"So, we all go back?" Alex pursed her lips as she considered this, "You as Percy's right hand man, Birkhoff as the tech who knows all, and me as—"

"As a field agent," Michael finished for her, a faint smile at his lips. "You'll get a higher level of clearance; you'll be able to go on more missions...do more to help Nikita and Owen locate the rest of the black boxes."

Alex nodded slowly, the idea beginning to make sense to her. "We go back," she decided. And then she suddenly wrapped her one good arm around Michael's neck and kissed him soundly.

To say that he looked startled would be an understatement.

"That's for saving my life," she informed him, her eyes bright. "You finally killed Kasim."

Michael grinned back at her, his hand resting on her waist. "I finally got him," he agreed, letting their faces linger inches apart. He slowly leaned closer and kissed her lightly on the lips.

She pulled back questioningly, "What was that for?"

He gave her a brief smile, "Because I wanted to."

"Knock, knock," Nikita called, opening the cabin door. She looked relieved when she saw Alex was sitting up. "Birkhoff told me you were awake. How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good," Alex answered, reaching out to hold Michael's hand.

Nikita glanced down at their entwined hands and winked at Michael, "Just so you know, I'll be keeping that knife now."

He frowned, "Why? The mission is over, Nikita."

She grinned as she closed the door behind her, "Because you have a new good luck charm now..."

* * *

**THE END! :)**

* * *

***THANK YOU **to everyone who read and reviewed this story! Whether you're Malex, Mikita, or Thalex, I appreciated every single one of you!


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